Welcome to the Real World II: The Choice
by Twin-One
Summary: The long awaited and highly requested sequel to my first story! Join Angel as she is reunited with her beloved Twins to once again take on the Merovingian who has a grudge against Angel!
1. Strangeness in the Midst

**Author's Note:** 'Welcome to the real World II: The Choice' was not written to be a part of the original Matrix story line. It is only a Matrix fanfic that doesn't really fit in with the actual story. Around this time last year, I published a story that I never thought would capture so many readers' hearts and cause reviewers to beg for a sequel. Yet it happened and I have, since then, had so many requests for a sequel to 'Welcome to the Real World' that I couldn't help but answer. So here it is everyone! I hope you all enjoy it and I hope it turns out to be a classic like the first one! So sorry that it's taken me so long to get it out, but I've been busy thinking up a story that would match up to the original. And I thought it only fair that I publish it around the time that I published the original one last year.

**Disclaimer:** I am only a fan and do not own anything of the Matrix! All characters, names and anything else pertaining to the Matrix are owned and copyrighted by their rightful owners (the Wachowski brothers and Warner Brothers). The only thing I own is the fanfic itself and any fan-made characters that were created by me exclusively for the story. This fanfic and any of my other fanfics may not be copied, altered, edited or posted elsewhere without my permission. For those of you who may speak another language please feel free to translate my story into your native language for better understanding and your personal enjoyment ONLY, or to show to a friend that may not speak English.

**Rated PG** – mild violence and action

* * *

Angel woke with a start and looked around the dark room. She yawned and fumbled around on her night table for a few minutes before finally finding the digital clock. Pushing a button, the clock's screen illuminated in a soft blue glow revealing a huge 4:00. With a moan she turned back over and stared through the darkness at the ceiling. Something had awakened her. As she lay in bed trying not to drift off to sleep again, Angel sifted through her thoughts trying to remember her dreams. Nope, she didn't wake from a nightmare. What could it have been? She didn't usually wake up at this hour of the morning.

Moving to a sitting position she rubbed her eyes then reached for the lamp on the bedside table and flipped it on. Angel squinted for a minute under the brightness of the light then proceeded to scan the bedroom. Everything looked normal, or was it? Hopping out of bed, she grabbed her robe lying across the foot of the bed and threw it on as she walked toward the door and out into the hallway. A little ways down the hallway, she stopped and looked over the banister. Everything looked ok from what she could make out in the darkness, which was lit only by the soft glow of a computer monitor. She proceeded to go down the carpeted stairs and towards the kitchen, stopping once to look over the lighted screen of her computer. A picture collage screensaver threw random pictures of Matrix movie scenes onto the monitor's screen. Angel rubbed her sleep filled eyes, yawned, then continued toward the kitchen. Flipping on the bright light above, she made her way over to one of the cabinets for a glass.

After getting a glass of milk, Angel slowly walked through the house, turning on lights and searching the place to make sure everything was ok before she returned to bed. Everything was fine. A car zoomed past outside on the road, making a weird loud roaring sound that disappeared into the night.

'That car is in serious need of a new muffler', Angel thought to herself while turning off the last light in the living room. A couple more cars screeched and zoomed past making even louder noises, their headlights lighting up the picture window's drawn drapes for a few seconds before disappearing down the road.

"Anyone in their right mind would be home in bed at this hour of the morning instead of out dragracing." Angel breathed while shaking her head at the racket outside.

Walking to the living room door, Angel stopped and slowly turned her head toward the entertainment center on her far left. Stepping closer she noticed that the DVD player was turned on.

"Must have left it on." She said aloud to herself while pressing the power button. The word 'Off' scrolled across the small digital space on the front before it shut down.

"Strange." Angel mumbled aloud. "I thought for sure I turned it off earlier." She shrugged, took another quick look around the room then again made her way to the living room door. Stepping into the next room she reached for the light switch and flipped off the light before making her way to the stairs. She stopped and looked in front of her. Something was there, or so she thought. She felt a presence in the room with her, but she couldn't understand what kind of presence it was. It suddenly got cold, so cold in fact that she could almost see her breath. Not normal at all. Angel started to shiver with the coldness that surrounded her. She continued to stare through the half darkness in front of her, lit by the monitor, and saw something fuzzy move away from her. Her heart leaped into her throat and she about forgot her coldness for a second. Slowly Angel reached out and felt in front of her expecting to feel something solid, but nothing was there. She again saw something fuzzy and transparent go by. Or was it two fuzzy things? She looked to her left toward the utility room door then looked again to her right toward the computer and kitchen door, then looked behind her where the living room door was. Nothing! Angel breathed hard while looking forward up the stairs. Step by step she slowly made her way up, then turned another glance below. Whatever it was, was gone now and so was the coldness. Weird, she thought while walking toward the bedroom.

Back in bed, Angel thought over all the events that had just happened while sipping the milk she had brought from the kitchen. What had happened anyway? She was the only person that lived there, or was she? A shiver ran down her at that thought. She thought some more and thought about seeing the fuzzy or rather hazy distortion in front of her. It was a weird sort of translucent distortion that fuzzed her sight for a second or two before disappearing. And was there two of them? Could have been just the dark, she shrugged before taking another swig of milk. The darkness sometimes makes things look weird, especially after tracing about the house at four in the morning. But then there was the cold wind that engulfed her when the two fuzzy things had been there, one of the commonly known effects when ghosts are present. Angel knew there were no such things as ghosts though and pushed the thought aside. It had to have been the darkness playing tricks on her eyes.

A crash from downstairs brought Angel to attention. That wasn't the darkness that time and she knew it. Darkness doesn't knock things over. There was definitely something or someone in the house. She quickly set her empty glass on the night table and slowly got up, throwing her robe back on. Bumping up against the night table, she knocked something off which made a thud on the carpet next to her foot. Turning she saw the pearl handled razor that Twin Two had given her last year before he had to return into the DVD that now stood on her DVD shelf downstairs in the living room. She picked it up and stared at it for a minute. She missed her friend deeply. Angel shook her head. Now wasn't the time to reminisce. She clutched the razor in her hand and darted slowly and carefully out into the hall and peered down over the banister. If a burglar were in the house she'd have to be careful not to let herself be known until she could catch whoever it was in the act.

Slowly, carefully, Angel descended down the stairs sideways, her back to the wall so no one could sneak up on her if they happened to be hiding in another room upstairs. Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, Angel quickly looked around her. All was quiet except for the roar of the computer's fan and the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. Making her way over in front of the computer, she felt something behind her. The computer's monitor suddenly turned itself off, shrouding the area in complete blackness. Quickly turning, a sharp blow from behind knocked the breath out of her for a few seconds. Angel, in defense, swung her arms around and hit something, sending it sprawling onto the floor. Immediately after, someone else from behind came up and grabbed onto her, its powerful arm around her neck, slowly choking the life out of her. She gasped and gagged before kicking whoever it was in the shin, causing her captor to let go quickly. She turned and slapped it upside the face, sending it sprawling onto the floor. Huffing and trying to catch her breath, Angel leaped to the light switch and turned on the bright light overhead, her hands shaking from fear. She turned but nothing was lying on the carpet except for the razor she had dropped during the scuffle. Surely she wasn't going crazy. Chest heaving, Angel brushed back a lock of her long brown hair from her face and scanned the room for any signs of an intruder. There wasn't any.

"Angel." A faint voice called out from somewhere. Angel's face went pale. Who was calling her? She turned her head this way and that trying to make out where the voice had come from.

"Angeeeel." The voice again said, this time lower and more menacing and teasing.

"Who are you? What is it that you want?" Angel shouted in fear and frustration, glancing around.

"Doesn't matter." The voice replied. "Run!"

"What?"

"Run, Angel. He's watching you." The voice quickly said, still sounding as if it were far away. "Run upstairs, now!"

"And lock the door behind you!" a second voice suddenly came out of nowhere.

Confused and frightened, Angel turned to quickly run up the stairs, but someone grabbed her from behind and jerked her around nearly causing her to fall to the floor. She grasped the banister to steady herself then looked up into the face of the being that had touched her.

"Smith!" she faintly got out.

The last thing Angel remembered from that point on was seeing two grotesque creatures coming out of the wall to grab hold of Agent Smith, something hitting her, and everything going black.


	2. Reunited

The next morning: May 6, 2004  
  
The next thing I remembered was waking again. But it was morning by this time. Not morning as in four-o clock, but morning as in the sun was up and fully shining. Or at least I thought it was. It was hard to tell through the dark blinds of my bedroom. I started to get up, but I felt dizzy and lightheaded. My head pounded to a conga rhythm and the room felt as though it was on a carousel. What had happened? The first impressions that came into my mind were that it had all been a crazy dream of some kind. It was the only way I could explain me still being in bed. Either that or I had been sleepwalking again. I remembered going downstairs to get a glass of milk, then something strange happening after that. I looked down and saw that I was still in my robe. I slept in my robe?  
  
Didn't matter that much, I guess. The thing I had to think about was trying to get out of bed without taking a tumble. It was tricky at first, with several attempts to grab hold of the chair across from me. To me, it seemed like every time I tried grabbing the chair, it would move away from me. I finally caught hold of it and pulled myself up to a standing position. I slowly grabbed up some clothes, and headed off toward the hallway, feeling along the wall to steady myself enough to make it to the bathroom.  
  
After taking a refreshing shower and putting on my clothes for the day, I felt better and wasn't as dizzy as I had been when I first woke up. In fact, I was feeling pretty good, aside from my head hurting a little. I made my way downstairs, all the time drying my wet hair with a dark blue towel, and walked over to my computer. I swiped my hand down my jeans once to get off the water, and then I reached for my mouse and clicked on the Internet logo. While waiting for the Internet to dial up, I turned and walked toward the living room with the thought of opening up the curtains in mind. What I saw next was a sight that made me think I was still asleep and dreaming. Stunned, I dropped the towel I held and just stood in the doorway. The place looked like it had been hit by a cyclone. Papers and magazines were strewn all over, lamps were lying on the floor (thankfully none were broken), and several accent tables were overturned. Then as my eyes made it around the room, I gasped at who was lying in one of the recliners and on the sofa. One twin lay stretched out on the sofa; his legs comfortably crossed over one another. The other twin lay in the reclining chair, his arms folded behind his head for a pillow.  
  
"One? Two? But how?" I barely got out before coming into the room. The two twins perked up at hearing my voice, and quickly jumped up from where they had been supposedly sleeping.  
  
"Angel?" the shaky British voice of Two said. "Is that really you?"  
  
"Of course it's me, silly." I was, by now, on the verge of laughing from the excitement. "Oh Two!" I shouted as I ran to Two and threw my arms around him and buried my face in his silver coat. To feel his warmth again was so delightful. It was then, at that moment, that I realized I had almost forgotten how much I missed seeing him. Then there was that feeling coming inside of me again. The feeling I got that night when we both sat beside the fountain. Two slowly placed his arms around me and leaned his face on my head.  
  
"Ack! Your hair's wet!" Two gasped and wiped the water from his cheek.  
  
"Sorry, Two." I giggled then turned to One. "One" my voice trailed off as I embraced One as I had done to Two. He wrapped his strong arms around me and gave me a huge squeeze.  
  
"It's so good to see you both again. You have no idea how much I've missed you." Said I, after drawing back from One and walking up to Two. "Especially you, Two." I playfully pinched at Two's arm. He blushed and smiled sweetly. I wanted more than anything to say to Two that he looked so cute when he smiled, but I didn't want to embarrass him, remembering that One liked to tease his brother. I smiled at Two, and he smiled at me. I then found myself clearing my throat.  
  
"This is such a surprise! I never thought I'd see you two again. Well not in this way, anyway." I walked over and picked up a lamp and set it back on a table as I spoke. "What's up?"  
  
The Twins exchanged glances with each other, and then Two stepped forward.  
  
"Nothing we can't handle." He said.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" I asked, detecting a little uneasiness in Two's voice.  
  
They both hesitated a minute.  
  
"Actually, there is." One softly answered.  
  
"But it can wait awhile." Two grinned at me. "First we want to know how you've been."  
  
"I've been doing good. Much better now since I've met you two again." I smiled. "Eight months has seemed like a year."  
  
"Has it really been that long since we last saw each other?" Two said, puzzled.  
  
"I'm afraid so. Or at least that's in my time."  
  
Two slowly walked over to me as I picked up some papers, and started running his fingers through my wet hair.  
  
"Um, so how are you doing?" I smiled at Two and walked away from him to straighten a table.  
  
"Good." Two softly answered.  
  
"You two must have had a doozy of a party in here last night." I laughed.  
  
The Twins again exchanged silent glances with each other. Somehow I had the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Either that or the Twins had suddenly become overly shy. They hadn't spoken hardly any during what I thought was going to be a good conversation, and the way they kept eyeing each other and myself, startled me.  
  
"Is there something I should know?" I suddenly and quickly came to the point. Both Twins sighed together and One stepped forward.  
  
"We all need to talk as soon as possible." He said. "It's urgent."  
  
"Come with me to the kitchen and we can talk there." I said, as I led the way. 


	3. The Twins Tell Their Story

In the kitchen, I took a teapot and filled it with water before putting it on the stove. The Twins settled themselves down around the small kitchen table, Two folding his arms under his chin.  
  
"First of all, that was no party we had in your living room last night." One began. "It was a struggle."  
  
"A struggle with Smith." Two added.  
  
"So I wasn't dreaming last night." I breathed, seating myself down in a chair next to Two.  
  
"No."  
  
"What's going on this time?" I asked.  
  
"Ever since you wrecked the Merovingian's plans to take over your world that last time, he's been carrying a grudge against you."  
  
"Last night he finally broke out into your world again and is now searching for you." Two finished.  
  
"He's sent out his minions to help in the search, one of which is Smith."  
  
"Somehow Smith found his way into your house last night,"  
  
"And we came just in time to stop him from possibly killing you in your sleep."  
  
"So that's what the struggle was about last night?" I asked.  
  
"Yes." The Twins said together.  
  
"Sorry about the nasty crack on the head." Two smiled. "I tried stopping Smith before he could hit you like that, but it was too late."  
  
"It's ok, Two." I patted him on the shoulder.  
  
"After the struggle," One continued, "Smith escaped out the backdoor. When making sure that Smith was gone, we carried you back to your bed after seeing you were alright."  
  
"Then we settled down in the living room to keep watch and make sure Smith didn't come back for round two." Two smiled.  
  
"Thanks." I smiled back.  
  
All was silent for awhile, until I broke the silence.  
  
"So what do we do now?"  
  
"Well, it's clear that we can't stay here very much longer. Smith knows you're here, so he'll be coming back." One said.  
  
"What do you suggest then?"  
  
"We say we need to get as far away from here as possible." Two looked at me.  
  
"There's one little thing we forgot to tell you." One interrupted.  
  
I looked at him questioningly.  
  
"Smith took your DVD."  
  
"My Reloaded DVD? The one you two, Smith, and the Mero came out of?"  
  
The Twins nodded slowly.  
  
"I don't believe this." I uttered under my breath. The conversation was broken when the teapot on the stove started to whistle. I got up and took it off, then stood in the middle of the small kitchen and thought everything over. The Twins silently eyed me.  
  
"Do you have any idea of where the Mero is now?" I asked the Twins.  
  
"What we heard is that he was on his way to Paris. Now that Smith knows you're here, we don't know what's going on now."  
  
"He might be in this very city by now." Two added.  
  
I sighed to myself. I knew what we were going to have to do, but I was a little hesitant about going through with it. Sure the last adventure was fun, but it had also been dangerous.  
  
"Let's get out of here." I said, finally.  
  
The Twins jumped up from their chairs and walked toward me. I turned and led the way up the stairs and into my bedroom where I dragged a small backpack out of the closet and started to throw some clothes into it.  
  
"We've got to somehow get to Paris. The Mero's house is there this time." One spoke as I darted around the room, gathering up stuff and throwing it into my pack. "If we can find him and get your DVD back, we can all rest easy."  
  
"Are you crazy?" I stopped and looked at One, "Do you realize how much it's going to cost us to book a flight to Paris?"  
  
"It's our only way!" One insisted. "That and finding Neo again."  
  
"Neo's here again?" I asked.  
  
"Yes, somewhere. He went after the Merovingian while we came here to protect you." One nudged the carpet with the tip of his boot as he spoke.  
  
"Who else is here?"  
  
"Trinity, Niobe, Ghost, Ice, and Morpheus."  
  
"What's Ice doing here?" I came closer to the Twins. One shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't know.  
  
"Beats me. She insisted on coming with us, though she didn't say why."  
  
This whole adventure didn't make sense. I got knocked out, I wake up and find the Twins asleep in my living room. Then they tell me that the Merovingian is loose again and with a grudge against me, Smith's trying to kill me, my Reloaded movie has been stolen, and we've got to take off like a couple of fugitives and try to get to Paris to find Neo and the rest.  
  
I stared at the Twins for a little while, trying to understand everything. I smiled when my eyes landed on Two. I picked up the razor he had given me, from off my night table, and walked over to him.  
  
"Someone once told me, that he was going to teach me how to use this when we met again." I smiled and held the razor up for him to see. Two's lips turned into a smile at seeing the weapon. He slowly raised his pale hand and placed it on the razor and my hand and looked into my eyes.  
  
"So he did." Two's smile turned into a grin. 


	4. Fugitives

"Steady now." Two whispered in my ear, "Hold the razor in your right hand."

I did as he instructed, moving the open razor to my right hand.

"Now, put four fingers on the side of the handle and your thumb on the top of it." Two took my fingers and placed them where he had said to. "You want to slide your thumb down the handle and slip it off to the right so it's on the side, close to the end." Two moved my thumb as he spoke. "Here I'll show you." Two pulled out his own razor, opened it, and showed me how he twirled it.

"While your thumb is sliding, remove all fingers except the middle one, like this…"

I watched in fascination, trying to see how it was done.

"The middle finger slides so it is opposite of your thumb, like so."

One yawned from where he was seated on the steps leading to the backdoor, as if our razor twirling lessons bored him.

"You have something you want to say?" Two suddenly blurted out at One.

"No, not at all." One smirked. "Continue on, brother."

Two shook his head and sighed before continuing.

"Alright. Allow the razor to flip some so that it's pointing down. Quickly, so that it appears that the razor does not point down, bring your palm up and catch the handle."

After explaining it to me, Two quickly twirled his razor. It happened so fast that I didn't even realize he had even done it.

"Now you try." Two pointed at me. I took my razor and looked it over, then proceeded to do what he had told me, careful to take note as to what I was doing.

"Put all four fingers on side…" I whispered to myself, "Thumb on top…"

This was easy.

I quickly did all the motions Two had walked me through. I did it; I actually twirled my razor like Two had done! Or so I thought. I suddenly heard One burst out laughing. Not really realizing what had happened; I looked at my hand and noticed that my razor was gone. Turning around to see where it had gone to, I saw Two standing as still as he could while looking down at the grass. My eyes quickly went down to where my razor was stuck in the ground, a half-inch from Two's foot. A sheepish smile ran across my lips, while Two's head slowly raised.

"I see we're going to have to work on this some more." He said.

I got in the position to try it again, this time trying to be a little more careful. I took a deep breath first to relax.

"Just relax, concentrate." I heard Two whisper behind me.

When I got through it all and to the part where I caught it at the end, a sharp pain went through my hand.

"Ouch!" I shouted while grabbing for my palm. The razor fell to the ground, and I fell to my knees. Two walked over to me and looked over my shoulder.

"You ok?" he softly asked.

"I-I think so." I forced myself to say. I took my hand away from my right hand and to my horror, blood was coming out of a long cut in the middle of my palm. Something told me that I didn't quite catch the razor by the handle that time.

One ran into the house to get something for my hand while Two tried to encourage me. When One came back out, both Twins wiped the blood off and stopped my hand from bleeding, then wrapped some cloth around it for a bandage.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Two smiled, putting the razor in my hand. "Why don't you give it another go?"

Again I took the razor and stood up. Taking another deep breath, I quickly went through the motions again, but again the razor slipped from my grasp. This time I knew because I felt the razor slide out of my hand. I nearly screamed as I saw a streaky blur fly through the air and skim One's face before coming to a stop in the backdoor. One phased before the razor had skimmed by his head, but when he returned to his normal form, he slowly turned to look at the damage. He walked over, pulled the blade out of the wood of the door and turned toward Two and me.

"You two are asking for it." One got up and started to walk toward us. "Slice the silver locks off, and you face my wrath."

"Watch it, he's about to throw a wobbly." Two crouched low behind me as One came closer.

"You bet I am!" One's lips turned into an entertaining grin as he playfully grabbed onto Two's coat. "Come here, brother."

"No, no! Leave me alone! Ahhhhh!"

I turned to see One playfully tugging on Two's beautiful silver dreadlocks. I had to fight back a giggle at the Twins playful behavior. When I had first met them again that morning, it kind of concerned me that they didn't act the way I remembered them, but I guess I was wrong to be concerned. Here they were, silly and witty as ever.

"One, let Two go." I laughed.

"Oh, you want me to let him go, huh?" One grinned even more. "First I'm going to show you some real razor twirling moves." One grabbed and pulled his razor out, opened it, threw it up in the air and caught it by the handle. He let go of Two's hair, but grabbed him by the arm and spun him around until his back was to One again. Quickly One put his arm around Two and held his razor to Two's neck while holding one of his arms behind his back.

"I give up!" Two gasped and struggled. "I give up!"

"You're hopeless." One let go of Two and pushed him forward onto the ground.

"Hopeless, eh?" Two smiled evilly. "Think fast!" Two shouted before phasing through the ground and appearing again behind One. He quickly jerked One's left arm behind his back and whipped out his razor and held it close to One's throat.

"I'm not totally hopeless, brother." Two hissed in One's ear. Two held One tight until One retreated down on his knees. Two, then, jumped up and gracefully bowed to me. I couldn't help but cheer him on. One jumped up and put Two in a headlock.

"You're just showing off for Angel, aren't you?" One whispered in Two's ear.

"Why do you say that?" Two whispered back.

"Because I know you love her." One grinned. Two finally struggled out of One's hold and stared at him.

At that moment, the fun came to an abrupt end when Smith jumped out of nowhere and tried to grab hold of me. I screamed for all I was worth, before succeeding in kicking him in the shins and retreating into the house. I looked behind me once to see if the Twins were following me, but they weren't. I quickly ran upstairs and grabbed the backpack I had stuffed with needed items earlier, and then grabbed my laptop computer before running back out into the hallway and downstairs. I quickly ran to the front door and struggled with getting it unlocked. My hands were shaking worse than a leaf in a hurricane. When the lock finally turned, I tried to go out, but a dark arm slammed it shut again. I turned around and peered into the stone cold face of Smith, my reflection clearly seen in his dark shades.

"We meet again, Miss Merryweather." Smith said in his slow, deep, hollow voice.

"So?" I said, sarcastically. "What's it to you?"

Smith only smiled, something I didn't even know he could do. The Twins suddenly grabbed hold of Smith and jerked him back away from me and threw him over across the room. Two ran, grabbed my arm, opened up the front door and ran outside towards a black Escalade that was parked in front of my house.

"Hurry and get in!" Two shouted, helping me inside the car.

"What about One?"

"He's coming, get in!" Two pushed me in then slammed the Escalade's door and ran around to the driver's seat and got in. He turned the motor over and hit the accelerator, causing the black Cadillac to speed off with a screeching of tires. I grabbed hold of my seat and held on for dear life. I suddenly saw something weird appear near the back of me and I turned to see One in his green ghost form. He materialized when he was a good ways in the car, and was carried off to the back of the vehicle with enough force to burst through one of the windows.

"For goodness' sake, Two, slow down a bit!" One shouted. "What are you trying to do? Win the Indy 500?"

Two hit the brakes, which sent One and myself almost flying through the front windshield.

"Great Scott!" One glared at Two. Two cowered. "I like a good run about, but this is ridiculous. Move over! I'm taking the wheel."

Two moved to the backseat while One moved to the driver's seat. He sped off with an easiness that was a relief to all of us.

"Here, you almost left this back there." One said, pulling out my razor and handing it to me while keeping his eyes on the road. I took it from his hand and placed it one of my jeans pockets. One looked at Two in the rearview mirror.

"Aw, come on. Don't be in such a strop, Two." One smiled. I had to turn my head to keep the Twins from seeing my smile at hearing their English accents and lingo. I knew what they were talking about, but it was still interesting and quite amusing to actually hear them speak and use English dialect.

Two lightened up after awhile, but only after we had been driving for about an hour. One stopped the Escalade in a dark alley in one of the dirty sides of the city.

"Maybe Smith won't find us here." One said.

"Wanna bet?" Two said, pointing in front of the car. One and I turned to see Smith coming toward us!

"Where on earth did he come from?!" One's voice rasped in his throat. Quickly he grabbed the key and started the Escalade again, grabbed the wheel and hit the accelerator, jolting the car forward and ramming Smith. Smith tumbled over the hood and fell to the pavement.

"Whatever we do, we can't let him grab onto us. He may decide to turn us all into clones of himself." One shouted over the roar of the car.

We drove fast through alleyways and streets for what seemed like hours, until something hit me.

"One, stop the car!" I shouted. One looked at me, puzzled.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just do it!"

One slammed on the brakes. As soon as the car stopped, I jumped out and knelt on the pavement. The Twins followed my lead, and walked up beside me.

"Ah hah!" I said, after a few minutes of rummaging my hand around under the car. It was just as I had thought. I loosened and dragged out a small tracking device that had been attached to the bottom of the Twins' Escalade.

"No wonder Smith found us so quickly. He had been following us." One took the device out of my hand.

"He must have attached that last night." Two exclaimed.

"Well he won't be following us anymore!" One threw the device down on the road and gave it a sharp blow with the heel of his boot.

"Now what?" Two asked.

"I say we make like a banana and split before Smith starts looking for us again." Said I, before making my way up into the Escalade again.


	5. Young Love

It was late afternoon when the Twins and I finally lost Smith. We were exhausted by this time so we thought it best that we find and check into a local hotel until we figured out our next move. We were fortunate to find a place where we got two rooms next to each other on the same floor. The Twins were in room 105 and I was in room 106. It was a rather fancy place, but I wasn't about to complain. I liked a little ritz now and again. After getting our rooms, I stood in the middle of mine, too overcome by the previous hours and too tired to take another step. I let my backpack slide to the floor, and I placed my laptop on a nearby table before I collapsed on the bed. The bedroom was decorated in an elegant shade of grey and tan, with the bedspread being a soft light blue. It was rich looking, no doubt about it, though the way the place looked didn't really concern me at that moment. I was more or less thinking about my stomach. I hadn't eaten anything for breakfast and it was way past lunch so I was famished as well as tired. Before I began making my way down to the hotel's café, I reached for the bandage that was wrapped around my hand and pulled it off. My hand was sore from when I sliced it with the razor earlier, but it was better now than it had been. I got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom where I washed the dried blood away. I, then, proceeded to go to the café. As I descended down the hall, I stopped at the Twins' room and softly rapped on the door. One answered.  
  
"I'm going to go down to the café. Care to come?" I asked.  
  
"No, we are going to stay here for awhile and rest and freshen up." One answered. "We'll meet you down there later, if it's ok."  
  
"Fine with me." I smiled.  
  
"You let us know if anything happens." Two added before I walked away.  
  
Getting off the elevator, I walked toward the direction of the café. I stood in its doorway and stared a few minutes. The place was even fancier than I had imagined. The carpet was a deep maroon color with gold designs in it. Each table was round and was covered with a pure white tablecloth and centered with a small vase of fresh cut flowers. Waiters dressed in tuxes carried trays and took people's orders with a flair of elegance. The place was crowded, but I finally found my way through and settled in a remote corner of the room and picked up the menu that was placed in front of me. After ordering, I took it upon myself to scan the room for any mysterious looking visitors. My eyes soon fixed on a man, or rather two men sitting at a table not more than a few feet away from me. Somehow I had the feeling I had seen them somewhere before, but I couldn't rightly place them. Not giving it any thought, I settled back in my chair and waited for my meal to arrive.  
  
When my meal arrived and after I had finished, the Twins entered the café dinning room and looked around. Spotting them, I raised my hand a little ways to let them know where I was. When they caught sight of me, they walked over and took a seat.  
  
"How's it going?" Two asked.  
  
"Pretty good, haven't seen any sign of trouble yet." I answered, taking another look around. "Then again I could be wrong."  
  
The Twins looked in the direction I was looking in.  
  
"Cain and Abel!" One gasped. That was it. I knew I had seen them before. They were two of the Merovingian's werewolf henchmen.  
  
"Let's get upstairs to our rooms." One whispered. "Now, while they have their backs to us."  
  
The Twins and I inched our way out of the café and to the elevator. Once the elevator stopped on our floor, the Twins and I ran to our rooms and opened the doors.  
  
"We'd better stay inside for awhile." One whispered to me. "If we're fortunate, Cain and Abel didn't see us just then." One turned his head for a minute to look toward the elevator, then turned back to me.  
  
"We'll be over later to talk over our plans for getting out of here and where we need to go." Two added.  
  
After saying bye to the Twins, entering my room, and closing the door, I turned around to see a curious sight setting on the table across from me. A dozen red roses in a green glass vase stood in the middle of the table, next to my laptop. Strange, they weren't there when I had left earlier. I slowly approached them and ran my fingers over their silky pedals, then bent to smell them. They were stunningly beautiful and arranged perfectly in the vase. As I moved one of the roses' leaves, I noticed a tag strung around one of them. I hesitated a minute, then proceeded to take the tag and turn it over. If this was someone's sick joke I was about ready to blow a fuse. Turning the tag completely over, I forced myself to read what was on it.  
  
_These are for you, Angel._

_From someone who loves you._  
  
That was it. That was all the tag said. That's all it had to say. I smiled to myself and smelt of the roses again. Two had placed them there when I was down in the café. I smiled again. I knew my feelings for Two were more than what I let on, though I didn't know how to tell him. I knew it from the moment we had to say good bye and the last time we both saw each other. When I looked into his eyes there by the pond that night, something inside of me turned over. Evidently he felt the same way and was too shy to tell me. Maybe that's why he secretly placed the roses in my room.  
  
A soft knock on my room's door brought me back into the real world. I walked over and opened it, only to see Two standing before me. He smiled shyly when he saw me.  
  
"Uh... mind if I come in?" he slowly said. I nodded and opened the door for him to enter. I closed the door and smiled mischievously to myself before turning to face Two. I was about to have some fun.  
  
"So did you like them?" he asked, smiling sheepishly.  
  
"Did I like what?" I replied, pretending I didn't know what he was talking about. He paced the floor a little, and then looked at me. "Something wrong?" I asked, trying not to giggle.  
  
"No, n-nothing's wrong." He stuttered.  
  
"Why did you come over here?" I calmly asked.  
  
"I, uh..."  
  
Two nervously looked around him, then grabbed the first thing he could find that was nearest him, which was one of the bath towels the maid left there.  
  
"Towel. I needed a towel." His voice trailed off as he held the towel up.  
  
"Didn't the maid leave any in your room?"  
  
"Yeah, she did, but... um..." Two glanced at the towel. "They aren't this color."  
  
I smiled at Two's blushing face.  
  
"Well, guess I'll be going now." Two pushed his way past me and opened the door. After he slammed it closed, I couldn't contain myself any longer and literally burst out laughing to myself. After getting my laughing under control, I turned, opened up the door and as I walked out of the room and into the hallway I slammed into Two, who had been standing on the other side of the door all along. I nervously looked up into his face and stopped. He smiled, then wrapped his arms around me and placed his lips to mine. After he stepped back, it took me a few minutes to realize what had happened. The next thing I knew, I had slapped Two across the face and slammed the door. While leaning against it, I tried to get a hold of myself. What had I done? It was a complete blur to me, but the last thing I saw was Two quickly running off to his and One's room like a whipped dog, while rubbing his sore cheek. Poor Two. I hadn't meant to do that, but he nearly scared me to death. I'd have to make it up to him. But how?  
  
It was at least a good two or three hours later before I dared to set foot out of my room. The place was quiet. I knew what I had to do, but I was scared to do it. What would Two do or think of me when he saw me again? What would I say to him?  
  
After getting up enough courage, I walked up to the Twins' room and softly knocked on the door and waited. A few minutes passed and the door slowly opened, revealing One's face without his shades on. He saw me and opened the door wider.  
  
"May I come in?" I said softly. He nodded and allowed me to enter. The room was totally dark except for the soft dimmed sunlight that came in through the window curtains across the room. Two sat in one of the room's recliners, his legs crossed over one another. He too had his shades off. I swallowed and looked down at the floor when I saw Two.  
  
"Two," I began, again swallowing. "I'm sorry for slapping you earlier. I didn't mean to, honest I didn't!" I ran to Two's side as I spoke. "It's just; I've never been kissed before. And the way that you did, it scared me. I didn't know what to do or think."  
  
Two smiled at me and placed his hand around mine and gave it a soft squeeze.  
  
"Don't be sorry, Angel. I'm the one who should be sorry. I acted like a childish idiot anyway and deserved what you gave me. It helped bring me to my senses."  
  
"You aren't mad at me?" I answered, looking into his beautiful silver eyes.  
  
"No, of course not." Two laughed. "Why should I be mad at the one person I love?"  
  
My eyes grew wide at Two's words. I looked up from eyeing my shoes only to see Two give me a wink and a smile. I smiled back then glanced over at One. He smiled at me as well.  
  
"Do you mean it, Two?" I knelt beside his chair and placed my hands on the chair's arm. "Do you really love me?"  
  
"Yes!" Two came closer to my face, all the time smiling. "I've loved you from the first moment I set eyes on you. Although it took me awhile to realize my feelings. You remember the last time we spent together?"  
  
I nodded.  
  
"It was then that I knew something bigger was growing inside of me. Something more than just friendship love. I didn't know how to say it to you. I was both scared and shy."  
  
"Is that the reason for all the flower business?" I laughed.  
  
Two grinned sheepishly and nodded his head. He remained looking down as if he was too shy to continue on. It was then that my heart went out to him more than usual. I slowly lifted my hand to his face and turned his face towards me. With a few tears in my eyes, I forced myself to speak.  
  
"I love you too." I smiled sweetly at him. Then I got up and slowly placed my lips to his and gave him a soft kiss, then touched my nose to his.  
  
"Ooooo, Romeo and Juliet finally found each other." One said, interrupting the moment. Both Two and I nervously glanced in One's direction, plain forgetting that he was even there. We cleared our throats and pulled away from each other quickly.  
  
"Well, I need to go I guess." I walked toward the door.  
  
"Wait!" Two jumped up from his chair. "Want to go out for dinner tonight?"  
  
I looked over at One then back at Two.  
  
"Sure. It's fine with me. I'll go wash up and get dressed and meet you in the lobby."  
  
"Great!" Two grinned.  
  
With that I walked back to my room.


	6. Night on the Town

By the time I got through washing up and changing into some fresh clothes that I had stuffed in my backpack, it was already almost dark outside. Trying to adjust my t-shirt while walking out into the hall and slamming my room's door shut, I placed my hand on the door to the Twins' room. It gave way and almost caused me to fall over. I stood there for a moment, puzzled about why their door would be unlocked. I proceeded to walk in cautiously. It was dark so I had to fumble a moment in trying to find the light switch. After finding it and turning it on, I looked over the room. Everything looked in order. Shrugging my shoulders, I turned the light back out and slammed the door shut. Before walking away, I looked down at the floor where something stuck out from under my foot. I moved my foot and picked the object up. It was a credit card. I looked it over then looked at the door. Someone had used a credit card to unlock the door to the Twins' room. Not giving it another thought, I stuffed the card in the pocket of my jeans and hurried to the elevator. I didn't want anything to ruin the evening so I wasn't about to tell the Twins anything until later on that night. I would tell them about what I had found when we returned to the hotel, before they would go into their room for the night. Who knows, we might have to search the room over.  
  
When I came into the lobby, I looked around for Two. He waved at me from over beside the lobby door. One was beside him.  
  
"Hey, Angel. We were beginning to wonder about you." Two said as I walked up to him.  
  
"Sorry. Took longer than I had planned." Said I. "Well, let's go!"  
  
The Twins and I walked out of the hotel and out to where the Twins' Escalade was parked. As I walked slowly beside the Twins, little did I know that what that night held in store for me was going to be something I'd never forget, and probably would like to forget. Two opened the door to the Escalade for me and motioned for me to get in first. I smiled and obeyed, jumping up in the passenger seat then making my way to the back seat. Our first stop was at one of the city's fancy restaurants. I had always known it was there, but all the time I've lived in this city, I never had been able to afford to actually go to it. I looked up at the Twins as we were waiting to be seated at our table. Quietly watching them, I wondered what they thought about all the time they were silent. Two caught my gaze, causing me to automatically smile. He smiled in return.  
  
When the waiter finally took us to our table, Two grabbed my chair and helped me to sit down. A perfect gentleman if I ever saw one. Carefully, Two took the chair next to me while One set across from us. In away, I was careful about how much I paid attention to Two around One. I couldn't help but feel that One may be a little jealous of me and Two. Two picked up a menu and offered to share it with me. I smiled and accepted.  
  
"There is more than one menu here, you know." One smiled amusingly at us.  
  
"We know, One." Two replied, a tad agitated.  
  
"You two should order the spaghetti. That's a real romantic dish." One grinned.  
  
Two slowly looked up at One.  
  
"There was this movie I saw Cain and Abel watching once about these two dogs who..."  
  
"Shut up, One." Two interrupted.  
  
"Ok, ok, if that's the way you feel about it." One leaned back and crossed his arms. "I was just trying to help."  
  
I couldn't help but giggle lightly under my breath. I wasn't sure, but I was probably blushing too.  
  
"Don't listen to him, Angel." Two whispered to me. "He teases me all the time."  
  
"So I remember." I laughed lightly. "I thought I told you to quit teasing Two." I said, turning to One.  
  
One grinned rather embarrassingly and shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"I can't help it. That's what younger brothers are for." One laughed.  
  
"I resent that!" Two scowled at One.  
  
"You're both the same age." I, again, laughed.  
  
"We know." Two replied.  
  
"But I'm still the oldest." One grinned with pleasure. "Because I came first."  
  
Two childishly stuck his tongue out at One then turned back to me and smiled.  
  
"Big brothers are always a pain in the neck." Two glanced at One.  
  
"Little brothers are always a pain in the unmentionable." One smiled.  
  
"Are not!" Two raised his voice a little.  
  
"Are too." One continued to remain calm.  
  
"Will you two chill out?" I laughed and eased Two down. "We're here to enjoy a nice quiet evening, or at least I am. You two can go into your sibling rivalry on your own time."  
  
Two huffed, crossed his arms, and leaned back hard in his chair.  
  
Surprisingly, that evening's meal was rather enchanting. The Twins actually behaved themselves for once after the slight fit beforehand. Although, like any nice evening, it wasn't complete without a slight upset which came about when Two accidentally tipped a water glass over. Thankfully it didn't drench anything or anyone but the tablecloth. After the meal, the Twins took me to a dozen different places around the city. We went into several stores, went to see a movie, and then finally stopped in a nearby park. It was the most romantic place to me at that moment. The wind gently blew through the leaves of the trees, crickets chirped, and the only light in the place came from the soft glow of the quaint lampposts that were dotted around. Two and I walked along not even realizing that One had left us. Two softly and gently eased his hand into mine and gave it a light squeeze. I smiled to myself as we slowly walked along the park's path. The only noise to be heard, aside from the crickets, was the gentle tap of Two's boots and the soft sound of my tennis shoes.  
  
"Beautiful night." I said, breaking the silence.  
  
"Yeah, it is." Two replied. "Let's sit here on this bench for awhile and enjoy it." Two pointed toward one of the park benches. As I sat down next to Two, he softly lifted his arm and placed it around me. At first it felt odd to me and I was a bit unnerved by it, but I soon eased into his embrace and leaned my head on his shoulder. In return, he leaned his head on my head. My heart skipped a beat at feeling him that close to me. Not skipping a beat as in fear, but as in love. Although I think my heart was doing more than just skipping a beat at that moment. It was more like flipping. Two suddenly moved his face a little closer to mine and nosed me a little. A chill ran down me and I smiled. I couldn't help but feel a little shy, yet I was happy at the same time. I had never felt like this toward anyone before. Two was the first. Right then and there I knew something was forming between us. Getting over my shyness fast, I turned and leaned my head against Two's and looked into his eyes the best I could through his shades. I made a weird expression with my face and shook my head.  
  
"All I can see is myself looking back at me." I laughed lightly.  
  
Two looked at me a little puzzled until he realized what I was talking about.  
  
"Oh! Right, sorry about that." He laughed and took his mirrored sunglasses off. "I think there's enough darkness out here that I can take them off." He smiled.  
  
"That's much better." Said I, again looking into his eyes. I stopped and was speechless for a few minutes. Those silver eyes of his glistened in the pale light of the lamppost that was closest to us, part of which was hidden behind the branches of the tree that was beside us.  
  
"Whoa, that is much better." I said in a whispered tone, more to myself than anything. It was then that I slowly reached up and started to stroke his dreadlocks. He smiled and closed his eyes at feeling my touch. It reminded me of that night by the pond, when Two and I had to say good bye to each other. A few tears crept into my eyes. Back then I wasn't sure that I would ever see Two again, and here I was once again beside him, running my fingers through his soft dreadlock twisted hair.  
  
I stopped stroking his hair and took his face in my hands and carefully lifted it up to my face. As I did so, Two's eyes quickly opened. As carefully as I had lifted his face to mine, I put my lips to his and gave him a slight kiss. Not enough to get serious, but enough to let him know I cared. When I drew back and looked at Two, I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face. He had the cutest crooked smile I had seen, one of his dreadlocks had found its way across his face, and his eyes were wide.  
  
Suddenly, the peaceful and romantic moment ended when out of nowhere, One came bursting up behind us with a loud 'boo', which nearly sent both of us scattering to the ground.  
  
"Great Scott, One! What on earth's the matter with you?" Two grumbled aloud, while struggling to not fall off the bench. "Talk about me being childish."  
  
"Haha! You should have seen the looks on your faces." One laughed while coming around and sitting beside me and Two.  
  
"Well what can you expect? I thought Cain and Abel had found us." Two sighed and shook his head.  
  
"I guess we need to get back to the hotel." One said. "We've got an early start tomorrow."  
  
The hotel? Of course!  
  
"Um, guys, I need to tell you something." I said, reaching into my jeans pocket and pulling out the credit card. "Right before we left the hotel earlier, I found the door to your room unlocked and this on the floor outside it." I handed the card to Two.  
  
"Probably one of the maids dropped it and forgot to lock the door behind her or something." Two handed the card back to me.  
  
"Was anything missing or out of place?" One asked.  
  
"No. Everything looked in order so I left it."  
  
"Aw, don't worry about it. I'm sure it's nothing." One smiled. "Now come on you two, let's go back and get some sleep." 


	7. Kidnapped

When we returned to the hotel, we were surprised to find that they were having a ballroom dance in the café area. Two looked at me immediately and smiled. I shook my head and made a gesture that I was tired. He nodded that he understood and followed me and One to the elevator.  
  
The elevator stopped on our floor and we all walked to our rooms. I saw the Twins disappear into their room and I turned to unlock my own. I flipped on a light and closed the door behind me and locked it. I stood for a few minutes and listened. Everything was quiet. In fact, it was a little too quiet for comfort. I walked a few feet into the room and stopped. Something didn't feel right. I had one of those feelings that a person gets when you sense that you aren't alone. Like someone is watching you. I looked over toward the bathroom then quickly turned my head away. The door was closed except for a small crack. I was sure I had left the door open wide when I left. In fact, I know I did. I always left the bathroom door open even at my own home. I walked around a little bit as if I hadn't noticed. Looking in the mirror that was hanging over the bed, I saw the bathroom door open a little more behind me, then quickly move to the way it was. Someone was definitely in there! I continued to mull around a little bit more, then quickly grabbed my backpack and ran out into the hall to the Twins' room as fast as my legs would carry me.  
  
"One! Two! Open up quick! It's me, Angel!" I shouted as I pounded violently on the door, hoping to cause enough noise to discourage whoever it was in my room from coming out in the open. Two was the one who answered the door.  
  
"Angel, what's the matter?" he asked, puzzled.  
  
"Let me in, quick, and I'll tell you." I said, shoving my way past Two, then forcing the door closed. "Lock it!"  
  
Two locked it then turned back to me. One came walking out of the bathroom while being dressed in a pair of shiny silver nightclothes and a pair of white socks.  
  
"What's going on?" One asked, looking at me then at Two.  
  
"There's someone in my room." I breathed softly and as calmly as I could, even though my heart was pounding within my chest.  
  
"Who?" said One.  
  
"No idea. They were hiding in the bathroom and didn't come out."  
  
"How did you know they were in there?" Two asked.  
  
"I remembered leaving the door wide open when I left tonight and when I went into my room just a few minutes ago, it was closed except for a small crack. Then as I turned toward the mirror over my bed, I saw the door open slightly then quickly go back like it was before. Evidentially whoever is in there didn't know I was looking toward the mirror, but felt I was going to turn back around and didn't want me to notice." I took a break and swallowed and tried to catch my breath. "The last thing I knew was grabbing my pack and racing over here."  
  
Two helped me sit on one of the twin beds and sat down beside me. He pulled me close to him in a comforting way.  
  
"It's ok, Angel, I'm here." He said in a soft voice.  
  
"I'm going next-door to see about this." One said while walking over to the door.  
  
"Come on let's go with him." I said, jumping up off the bed while dragging Two by the hand.  
  
When Two and I arrived at the door of my room, One was busy checking the place over.  
  
"No sign of anyone here that I can see." One said, bending down to look under the bed. "Whoever was here must have left after you came pounding on our door."  
  
"Check the closets." Two suggested.  
  
"I did. Nothing but a couple of clothes hangers."  
  
As the Twins continued to search the room, I slowly backed up while clutching tight to my pack. I felt like something was about to break loose, but I didn't know what. All of this didn't feel right. Suddenly, before I realized what was happening, someone from behind me roughly grabbed onto me. I screamed for all I was worth which succeeded in getting the Twins' attention fast. As whoever it was carried me down the hall, I saw Two turn into his ghost form and come bounding towards me and my captor, his fangs showing and the most beastly roar I had ever heard coming from his throat. I slowed down my captor a bit by kicking at his legs and squirming, making it difficult for him to run fast. Two materialized and grabbed onto the guy, slamming him against the hall wall. The guy turned me loose and dropped me onto the floor. I quickly got to my feet and scrambled to get out of the way, while hearing the guy's head again hit the wall. Not more than a few feet did I run, when I found myself slamming into yet another captor who roughly placed his arms around me and covered my mouth. Two looked up just in time to see him carry me off down the emergency stairs. One ran up behind Two and they both came bounding through the stair door, just in time to see me disappear. Getting rather scared and frustrated, I bit down on the guy's hand, making him turn loose of my mouth in a hurry.  
  
"Two! One! Help me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs once my mouth was free. When the guy that held me burst through the door leading outside, I looked back behind us one last time and saw the Twins come out of the same door. My eyes met Two's as the captor opened a door to a black limo and stuffed me inside. I struggled and kicked, trying to get out and make a break for it, but the guy was too strong for me. Making one last attempt, I threw the credit card I had found over the guy's shoulder in hopes that the Twins could use it in rescuing me. And that was the last I remember before everything went black.  
  
The Twins returned to their room after I had been taken away by whoever it was. Two was in a state of rage and was determined to find me or else.  
  
"Calm yourself, brother." One said, patting Two on the shoulder.  
  
"Calm myself?? Calm? The Master has taken Angel away and who knows what he's planning to do to her!"  
  
"Standing there fuming about it and throwing a wobbly isn't going to help matters any." One threw his suitcase on the bed.  
  
"I'm not throwing a wobbly. Who says I am?" Two ran over beside One.  
  
"I say it." One looked Two in the face. "Believe me, I'm just as mad and upset about it as you are, but standing in the middle of a hotel room shouting out loud to whoever will hear you isn't going to get Angel back." One placed some items in his suitcase and shut it. "You've got to take action!"  
  
"You mean go to Paris and find the Mero, right?"  
  
"Right!" One set his suitcase on the floor next to the door. "If the Master wants a fight, then we'll give him a fight. It's clear he cares nothing about us so why should we care if he loses? We'll go to Paris, find him, get Angel back and find someway to put a stop to the Mero coming into this world."  
  
"But what was Angel saying to us earlier in the park about our room being opened and her finding this on the floor?" Two held up the credit card.  
  
One took the card from Two's hand and stared at it while thinking.  
  
"There's only one thing I can think of, and only one reason why someone would have a credit card in a hotel aside from charging their room." One walked over to the door and put the credit card up to it.  
  
Two watched with interest.  
  
"Two, I think someone broke into our room." One looked around him. "Burglars use credit cards to open doors. Angel said something about finding this card on the floor outside our room."  
  
"Why would they want to break into our room?"  
  
"To put something in here, most likely."  
  
Two looked around him.  
  
"Check the luggage." One suggested while picking up his own case. "Nothing's been disturbed in the room, so whoever came in here had to have come in wanting to tamper with something of ours and not anything in the room itself." One pulled out stuff from his suitcase and checked them over.  
  
"Could be another tracking device?" Two asked, opening up his suitcase on the floor.  
  
"Might be." One threw down a shirt he had checked over. "Or a listening device."  
  
"One!" Two suddenly grabbed One's nightshirt and tugged on it. One looked over his brother's shoulder and into his suitcase. "Check this out." Two pointed at something stuck to the inside of his suitcase, under some clothes. Two was about to say something else, but One made a shushing motion for him to stay quiet. Carefully One pulled the device from the suitcase and looked it over. After examining it, he dropped it on the floor, grabbed for his boot, and hit it sharply with the heel, smashing it into little pieces of wire and plastic.  
  
"Listening device." One mumbled. "The Master probably already knows we're coming."  
  
"What do we do?"  
  
"What else can we do? We go anyway." One looked at Two. "And expect a welcome party."  
  
One sighed and looked at the credit card he still held.  
  
"Blast!" he said under his breath.  
  
"What?" Two asked.  
  
One handed Two the card.  
  
"It's in French!" Two exclaimed aloud.  
  
"Well one thing's for sure, we aren't going to be his dupes anymore! C'mon, Two, gather your belongings. We've got a plane to catch!" 


	8. City of Light

When I woke up, it took me awhile to figure out where I was and what had happened. I wasn't in a car anymore. Instead I was lying in the floor of something else that moved. I moved to a sitting position and looked around. From the movement and the sound of the engine, it was clear that I was in a plane. I had no idea how long I had been out, nor did I know what day it was or anything. I struggled to grab hold of one of the nearby windows and pulled myself up to where I could see out. To my amazement, a whole city was under us. I stood there a minute and awed over the sight of the many lights and buildings. Then my eyes caught sight of something else, something very familiar.  
  
"I'm being taken to Paris." I whispered to myself at seeing the wondrous sight of the Eiffel Tower in the distant as the plane circled around. That alone answered all of my questions. The Merovingian must be the one behind all of this. The Twins had told me that he was out to get me and that he was on his way to Paris.  
  
They were right so far.  
  
A chill ran down my back at everything that was happening. Here I was thousands of miles away from my home town and separated from the Twins. I was going to have to find a way to keep myself alive until the Twins could find me. I sighed to myself and wondered what the Merovingian was up to. This was already becoming way too serious. I'd have to do something and do something fast. Although I'd have to plan what I was going to do now, then wait and do it after the plane landed. I couldn't risk putting myself in danger. If I did anything now that would upset everyone including the pilot, the whole plane would crash.  
  
Slowly, I inched my way over to the door that undoubtedly led to the cockpit and carefully peeked out the door's window at who was flying the plane. There were several men sitting around in the four seats. Two of them I knew were Cain and Abel, but the others I didn't quite know, although I had seen them before. They were the ones who had grabbed me and kidnapped me. The guy at the controls had slicked back brown hair that came to a ponytail in the very back of his head, down close to the nape of his neck. He was dressed in an outfit similar to the Twins', but it was totally black, tie and all. He turned once to look at his copilot then pointed back in my direction before they all started laughing. I shuddered to think about what they were saying because I knew it was about me, and from the way it looked it didn't look too good. One thing puzzled me though. The Merovingian wasn't even on the plane. I took it that he was in Paris waiting for his goons to deliver me.  
  
It was then that I started to take action. Soon we'd be landing and I needed a little time to prepare for my escape. First I looked over the door. Good it opened the opposite way, meaning that it opened toward the individual on the other side rather than opening towards me. After looking over the door and finding that out, I softly walked over, careful not to make any sudden noise, to my backpack and opened one of the pockets on the outside. I thumbed around for a few minutes, and then dragged out a wad of string. I took it, tied one end in a loop and placed it over a small nail that was sticking out on one side of the door, near the floor. I took the string and pulled it tight across the door and tied the other end in a loop and did the same thing to it. Taking my razor out of my pocket, I sliced off what string I didn't need and stuffed it in my jeans pocket, along with my razor. Now all I had to do was wait until the plane landed.  
  
A few minutes passed before the plane finally came to a halt on the ground. I grabbed my pack and held it close and readied myself for the action that was soon to follow. I heard a great deal of talking coming from behind the door in front of me, and then I saw the form of a face appear in the window. The door clicked and started to open. Every muscle in my body tensed. I prepared myself and hoped that my trick would work. Before I knew it, the door had fully opened to reveal the guy that had been flying the plane. With a wicked grin on his face, he fixed his eyes on me for a few seconds, and then proceeded to walk into the cargo bay and toward me. It all happened so fast that I barely had time to think much less take action. Just as I had planned it, the guy took a tumble when his feet got tangled in the string I had strung across the bottom part of the doorway. His huge bulky figure fell in front of me, filling up the rest of what little space made up the cargo bay. I quickly jumped on top of him, using him as a bridge to make it out and into the cockpit. Dodging my way through the seats, I finally made it out of the plane and ran for my life, not bothering to look back to see if I was being followed or not. I ran for awhile, although it was confusing trying to find my way out of an airport that had signs written only in French, especially since I couldn't speak or read French. I stopped for a few minutes to catch my breath and also to see where exactly I was. My first thought was trying to find anything that looked like an exit.  
  
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running. I turned to see the Mero's goons running in my direction, and coming up fast. I took off running again, this time going down a hall on my left. In the middle of running, up ahead I looked to the right to see the ladies restroom. I could always run in there and they couldn't follow, but it was too risky. It was a perfect place to get cornered in. They might not be able to follow me in, but there was no law saying they couldn't wait outside for me until I came out. Bypassing that thought, I kept on running until I came to the end of the hall and started to turn another left only to run smack dab into...  
  
"The Merovingian!" I literally almost screamed out loud after looking up to see who I had ran into.  
  
"Miss Merryweather." The Mero evilly said. "What an unexpected surprise."  
  
"I bet!" I scowled.  
  
"How may I be of service to you?"  
  
"Don't play cool with me, Merv, I know what your plan is. The Twins told me all about it." I crossed my arms.  
  
"They did, did they?" The Mero shook his head in a pity way. "I'll have to do something about those two. They're forever ruining my plans."  
  
"Touch them and you die!" I gritted my teeth and scowled harder.  
  
"Temper, temper, Miss Merryweather. We don't want you getting agitated now do we?" The Mero looked behind me and smiled. Calmly and slowly, I turned my head to see Cain and Abel standing right behind me, guns pointed at my back. I smiled and started to giggle a little, then my giggling turned into a full blown laugh. I laughed for a few seconds, looking at the Mero's perplexed expression in between my laughing.  
  
"What is so funny?" He sternly said.  
  
"You!" I got out before laughing more. The Mero looked at Cain and Abel and shrugged his shoulders at them.  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes, you!" I stopped laughing and looked the Mero straight in the eyes. "You think you're so powerful, but yet you have to have these dweebs to help do your dirty work."  
  
Cain and Abel exchanged glances with each other, and then raised their guns a little more.  
  
"Why don't you just shoot me now and get it over with?" I turned to Cain and Abel. They both looked positively confused. "Well? Go ahead! Do it! What's the matter? Scared that the airport security guards will hear it?"  
  
I turned back around to the Merovingian and smiled.  
  
"Pretty tough talk for a girl." He calmly and coldly said in his French accent.  
  
"I'm not afraid of you." I squinted my eyes at him. "In fact I'm more afraid of my dirty laundry than I am of you!"  
  
The Mero's eyebrows rose.  
  
"Well, we'll see about that!" The Mero snapped his fingers and out from behind him came the ponytail guy and the other guy that had been in the copilot's seat. The ponytail guy raised his hand and a white cloth to my mouth and nose. 


	9. Welcome to the Matrix

I opened my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time in the past couple of hours. Why they had to keep knocking me out, I didn't know. All I knew was I wished they'd stop doing it. Above me was a huge beautiful chandelier, of which I had seen before. I slowly turned my head to the side and saw a huge double winding staircase and walls filled with statues, busts, shields, spears, cutlasses, axes, swords, and other weapons. By this time I was fully awake. I jolted up and looked around me more. It couldn't be, but it was. I started to get up, grabbing hold of my backpack as I did so. Never once did I take my eyes off the walls around me. I looked down at the floor and followed the designs on up to the huge 'M' in the middle.  
  
I was in the Merovingian's chateau!  
  
"But how...?" I softly whispered.  
  
"I can tell you how."  
  
I turned my eyes up to the top of the stairs to see the Merovingian leaning on the banister, Cain and Abel at his side.  
  
"But you'd probably laugh at me like you did before."  
  
I'm telling you, this man was really starting to irritate me. My nose flared a little as I softly sighed a sigh to ease my irritation that was building up inside. I smiled and crossed my arms.  
  
"Let me guess, this is some sort of sick joke. You knocked me out, set up this marvelous stage prop and placed me in the middle to make me think I'm in your chateau. Am I correct?"  
  
"No." The Mero frowned.  
  
"Aw, don't tell me you got this off EBay."  
  
"Come now, don't be ridiculous." The Mero almost laughed.  
  
"Could it be one of those candid camera flings? We'll all have a big laugh after all of this is over with." I smirked.  
  
"Wrong again, Miss Merryweather." The Mero said in his utterly classy voice (come on give me a break). I rolled my eyes and kept my cool as the Merovingian made his way down the stairs and up to me. "Actually, Miss Merryweather, you are in the Matrix itself!"  
  
"Welcome to the Matrix." Cain grinned as he approached us.  
  
"How can it be?" I dropped my arms to my sides and stared at the Mero. "I have no..." I automatically reached behind my head.  
  
The Mero chuckled.  
  
"Aw come on, you're all pulling my leg here. The Matrix isn't even real." I looked at Cain and Abel. "It's a movie! Science fiction! Make believe, even."  
  
Cain, at that moment, grabbed onto my arm and twisted it, sending a shooting pain through it. I gasped and looked into his face.  
  
"Is this science fiction?" He smiled, then turned me loose.  
  
"We are in fact, in the Matrix, and that pain you just felt is indeed real, Miss Merryweather."  
  
For awhile I stood, stunned, and stared at the Mero. He grinned evilly at me.  
  
"What do you want from me?" I finally said, barely above a whisper. Much to my discomfort, the Merovingian pushed himself up in my face and sneered.  
  
"Revenge!" He said through his teeth.  
  
"Well you don't have to shout." I said, sarcastically.  
  
"You think this is funny don't you? You think all of zis is a big joke and any moment the punch line will be revealed. Well let me tell you this, Miss Merryweather, it is no joke. It is completely real whether if you like it or not. You ruined my plans for world domination the last time, and believe me this time you will not win." The Mero turned to walk away. "Oh! That reminds me, there is no punch line, Miss Merryweather."  
  
With that last comment, the Mero tipped his head and walked out of the foyer.  
  
"Just what do you expect to do with me now that you have me?" I shouted to the Mero. A few minutes passed and the Mero returned with his hands behind his back.  
  
"What will I do with you? You are mine now. There's no going back to your world. You will remain here forever until you die. And in that time I will see to it that your stay is most uncomfortable." The Mero smiled.  
  
"You are a sick and twisted man!" I shouted back to him.  
  
He only chuckled to himself before leaving again. Cain and Abel turned and followed him.  
  
"What? You're going to leave your prisoner unguarded?"  
  
"Why not? There's no way out of here." Abel laughed before slamming the door shut.  
  
Great! Here I was alone in a sicko's mansion with goodness knows what running loose. The Merovingian had vampire henchmen. What was I to do if I came upon them? At that moment I started to feel lonely and afraid. The Merovingian also had ghost henchmen, or at least he did. The Twins were still in my world and had no idea what was going on. I knew they'd try and find me though. Two wouldn't give up on me. Not knowing what else to do, I started to sing to myself. My voice (that everyone I knew said was so beautiful) echoed through the huge cold foyer like an angel's voice. I sung louder and louder. Every time I did, it'd make me happy.  
  
Suddenly, out of nowhere, something fell down in front of me and made me stop my singing.  
  
"What is that noise?" The thing in front of me said in a gritty and hissy voice. It took me a moment to make out what it was, and then it stood up straight and peered at me. It was one of the vampires! He was tall and wore black, tight fitting clothes that had a silver bat and other designs embroidered in places. His face was pale and he had snow white hair that stuck up in spikes. It continued to stare at me while baring its fangs.  
  
"I said, what is that noise?"  
  
"I-it was me singing." I answered in a low voice.  
  
"Singing?!" The vampire tilted its head a little. "Don't you know that the master doesn't like that type of singing?"  
  
"No I didn't. Why doesn't he like that type of singing?"  
  
"Too joyful, too beautiful, too... heavenly." The vampire sneered and hissed the words through his fangs like a snake. His voice sounded more impish than a vampire.  
  
I looked at him in a puzzled way, almost having to fight back a laugh at the creature.  
  
"Ah! Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Vampueslome. And what is your name?"  
  
"None of your business."  
  
The vampire snorted then slunk around me, looking me over. A couple of times he sniffed at me like a dog would.  
  
"What are you doing?" I asked while watching the creature with great interest.  
  
"Trying to decide whether to eat you," The vampire once again smiled. "Or play with you for awhile."  
  
I rolled my eyes and sighed. Already this 'thing' was making me sick.  
  
"Go away." I said.  
  
"Why? I live here don't I?" The vampire ran and jumped up on the banister and perched himself there.  
  
"You're only a prisoner and I live here, so you go away."  
  
"I'll go when I'm ready."  
  
Before I knew what had happened, the vampire suddenly leapt from the banister and onto me, knocking me back onto the floor. It pushed its deadly pale face close to mine and hissed through its teeth.  
  
"Don't you like Vampueslome?" It sneered.  
  
"No! And please get off me!" I struggled to get out from under the vampire, but he wasn't going to let me up.  
  
"Hey, what's this?" the vampire said while fingering a shiny chain that was strung around my neck and tucked down in my shirt.  
  
"Go ahead and pull it out if you want to know." I smirked. The vampire stopped and stared at my face for a few minutes then looked back at the chain. For a moment the creature almost looked paler than he actually was. "I don't mind, go ahead and pull it out."  
  
Vampueslome let the chain slowly slip out from between his fingers.  
  
"I'm not that curious." He softly said, before rolling off me. After getting on my feet again and brushing the dirt off, I looked at the vampire and sighed.  
  
"Aren't you a little bit attracted to me?" He asked in a bewildered tone.  
  
"No!" I snapped.  
  
Vampueslome lowered his head in a sulky mood.  
  
"Ah! I know what it is. You've got a boyfriend already!"  
  
I slowly turned my head to the vampire.  
  
"Am I correct?" he grinned a toothy grin which showed his needle-like fangs. One thing I had to say for him is that he was a rather unusual vampire. His teeth looked more like needles than they did normal vampire fangs. And were his eyes purple?  
  
"Yes, you are correct." I sighed.  
  
"Thought so!" Vampueslome chuckled. "Come on, tell me who it is."  
  
I gave Vampueslome a stern stare.  
  
"Please?" Vampueslome smiled. "Is he a better looking vampire than I am?"  
  
"He's not a vampire, he..."  
  
Vampueslome's head perked.  
  
"He's a ghost."  
  
"Oooo... a ghost! Master used to have a couple of ghosts, but they aren't apart of us anymore."  
  
"You don't say?" I said under my breath.  
  
Vampueslome suddenly took a jolt toward me without any warning at all and wrapped his arms around me.  
  
"What on earth are you doing?!" I shouted while trying to pry his arms loose of me.  
  
"Give me a hug!!"  
  
"Not on your life! Now I'll thank you to turn me loose!"  
  
It was clear that Vampueslome wasn't going to let me go. I struggled with him for a few minutes, but he was determined to keep himself latched onto me. Finally I resulted to the next best thing, which was slapping him upside the face. The vampire quickly turned loose of my body and slunk away.  
  
"You don't like Vampueslome." He sniveled. Vampueslome stood there a few minutes, then fell to the floor and started bawling like a child. I stood there, eyes wide, and stared at the unbelievable tantrum throwing vampire. I didn't think too much about it at the time. I figured it was just another trick to get me to feel sorry for him enough for him to flirt with me some more. The tantrum went on for a good two minutes or more with loud crying and unusual noises I had never heard before, some of which sent chills down my back.  
  
Then he stopped.  
  
Somehow I felt we weren't alone now and, looking up, I saw a bunch of vampires coming out of every crevice and door that was around the foyer, vampires of every shape and size imaginable. They all came out into the open and circled around me and Vampueslome.  
  
"Eh, boy." I whispered to myself while looking around at all the gruesome faces of the vamps. I then turned back to Vampueslome.  
  
"You'll be sorry now!" he said, rubbing his cheek where I had slapped him.

* * *

Author's Note: Vampueslome is my own character that I created and made at the last minute around 2 in the morning. So he's not part of the original 'official' Matrix cast, for anyone who may not know. Like Angel, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't use him in your own stories without my permission. And here is the way you pronounce his name correctly: vam-pew- slum. 


	10. Dealing with Vlad

All of the vamps wore black shirts that had V-cut collars decorated in lacy designs. The same designs were on the cuffs of their sleeves too. Each one was shaggy, yet handsome looking and had pale skin and closely cut black hair, except for a few blondes that were dotted here and there in the crowd. All of them looked older than Vampueslome. It was then I realized that Vampueslome must have been a child vamp, even though his appearance didn't match that of a child. The weird noises he made during his so called tantrum were actually calling all the other vamps to come and rescue him and protect him from me.  
  
I stood there and waited for what was going to come next, but all of the vamps came up to me and stopped. Everything was silent as they stood and stared at me. Vampueslome slunk around in-between everyone until he disappeared in the crowd.  
  
There was one vamp that stood out from the rest. When he entered, all of the vamps parted to make way for him to walk through. He was very tall, straight, and agile. When he walked he moved with the utmost grace and silence. Coming to think of it, he was a tad taller than the Twins. He was dressed in black clothing, having belts wrapped around his body in places, and a long black trench coat that flowed behind him when he walked. His boots were tall and had spikes sticking out from the sides. His hands and face were paler than of his comrades, so pale it looked as if they would glow in the dark. His fingernails were black and came to a point, resembling claws. His face was almost hidden by the shoulder length, raven black hair that came down and dangled in front of his face. What I could see of his face, sent chills down me. The parts around his eyes were black and his lips and eyes showed no emotion.  
  
Every vamp standing around me bowed its head when he entered the middle of the vampire circle. I stood still as the dark being approached me.  
  
"At ease." He commanded the other vamps. His voice was dark and menacing. "You are new around here aren't you?" he said to me.  
  
I nodded.  
  
"The Merovingian brought me here several minutes ago. I'm his new prisoner."  
  
"Ah, excellent." The vampire answered in delight. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Vlad, leader and ruler of the vamps here in the chateau."  
  
My eyebrows perked.  
  
"I must apologize for the ruckus that one of my young vamps caused just now. You have to understand that he's nothing more than a child. Whatever you did to him scared him so he called the rest of us to defend him, as he is not yet capable of defending himself."  
  
"No harm done." I breathed, still in awe by Vlad's presence. "I should be the one to apologize. I slapped your vamp on the cheek to make him let go of me."  
  
Vlad chuckled.  
  
"Don't apologize. You had every right of doing what you thought was best. By the way, which vamp was it?"  
  
I looked around the crowd until my eyes caught sight of Vampueslome, then I pointed in his direction.  
  
"Vampueslome." Vlad sighed and shook his head. "Yes, you must forgive him. He's a bit flirty at times. Sometimes he gets too carried away and excited."  
  
Vlad turned and motioned for one of the other vamps to carry Vampueslome out. The poor young vampire screamed and squirmed as the adult vamp carried him out one of the doors.  
  
"What are you going to do to him?" I asked curiously. For a moment I almost felt sorry that I got Vampueslome in trouble.  
  
"Nothing too bad. He just needs to be disciplined for his actions." Vlad sneered evilly. "Now what to do with you." He mused while walking around me.  
  
"Ah! I think I have an idea." Vlad snapped his fingers. "You're coming with me." He said, grabbing hold of my arm.  
  
"You may go back to the way you were!" Vlad motioned to his vampire army. "I have no use of you any longer."  
  
All of the vampires turned and left the Great Hall, while Vlad pulled me along with him.  
  
Vlad dragged me to his lair in the chateau's attic. I kicked and squirmed, but for nothing. His tight grasp on my shirt wasn't going to loosen for anything. He pushed hard on the heavy door to the attic, walked in, and threw me onto the dusty and creaky floor. I coughed and gagged on the dust that flew up in my face.  
  
"Ever think of getting a maid?" I said, sarcastically. Vlad didn't reply but busied himself with locking the door. I scanned the dark and drafty room before I glanced at my captor. The place was filthy; dust and cobwebs everywhere, old crates and boxes piled up, some as high as the ceiling. Then there were the candlesticks, dozens of them, some taller than I was. I felt a chill creep over me at just looking the place over.  
  
"Leader of the vampires, huh?" I said, trying to make conversation. "Bet it's a big job to herd all of those bloodsuckers and tell them what you want to do."  
  
Before I knew it, Vlad swooped over and got right up into my face and bore his fangs. I remained calm though, almost having to fight back a chuckle.  
  
"You aren't flinching." Vlad said through his teeth.  
  
"I beg your pardon?"  
  
"People always cower in my presence, but you, you haven't even blinked an eye!"  
  
"Am I supposed to?" I replied, dusting a little dirt off my shirt.  
  
"Do you realize that I could kill you right now if I wanted to?" Vlad slowly put his clammy hand around my neck and squeezed a little.  
  
"Go ahead." A mischievous smile swept across my lips. "Kill me. See what the Mero says about it afterwards."  
  
At that, Vlad jerked his hand away from me and sighed.  
  
"Do you know who I am?"  
  
"Of course I do. You're Vlad, leader of the vamps. Known for torturing your victims without the Merovingian's consent." I smiled.  
  
"You're mighty brave for a female." Vlad said as he walked around me. I was careful to keep my eyes on him. There was no telling what he was thinking or planning in that dark mind of his. I reached into my jeans pocket and secretly fingered my razor. If only the Twins would hurry up and find me.  
  
"I sense that you have no fear of me." Vlad finally spoke; sounding more disappointed than anything. "Care to show me some of your fighting power?"  
  
"Do you want me to duel with you?" I gasped.  
  
"Naturally." Vlad chuckled. "It may prove interesting and entertaining for the both of us."  
  
"Whatever you say." I sighed, got up and threw off my backpack. If it was true that I was now in the Matrix, then I might could bend the rules a bit enough to beat ol' mister creepy. Anything was worth a try. If it didn't work then I was as good as dead where I stood.  
  
"We live afterwards?" I asked, walking down to the far end of the attic.  
  
"But of course! I'm not about to let you die yet." Vlad answered over his shoulders while walking down toward the other end. "That doesn't mean we can't rough each other up a bit though." He sneered.  
  
"Good!" I answered, turning around to face Vlad. Vlad turned around too. I glanced at the floor around me and noticed there were several pieces of wood lying around where part of the floor was rotted and torn up.  
  
Careless of a vampire to leave something like that lying around.  
  
I cleared my throat and waited calmly for Vlad to give the signal for us to start whopping at each other. I pulled out my razor and flipped it open beside my leg, hoping that I remembered what Two had taught me about using it.  
  
"You ready?" Vlad slowly asked.  
  
"Let's tango." I answered, popping my shoulders to loosen muscles.  
  
Suddenly, without warning, Vlad started running toward me. I remained still and calm, waiting for him to get closer. I could have easily taken up a piece of wood and had him at my mercy, but there was no law saying I couldn't have a little fun first. When he got within a few feet of me, I quickly moved to the side, letting him fly on past me and slam into the wall. He snarled and growled and turned back toward me.  
  
"I'm not as dumb as I look." I smiled.  
  
Vlad again made his way toward me, but I turned a cartwheel to the side and evaded him again, making him all the madder.  
  
"Grrrrarrr! You're a tough one, I can see that!" he snarled, "But we'll see just how tough you really are!" Vlad jumped up high and caught hold of one of the attic rafters and perched himself there. Quickly I ran toward the wall nearest me and hoped for the best. I closed my eyes and stretched my legs out until they caught hold of something solid, then as if in a dream I began to walk up the slanted walls in slow motion. I opened my eyes again and caught sight of the perplexed look on Vlad's pale face. When I got as close to Vlad as possible, I turned a back flip while holding my razor out and sliced a gash in Vlad's arm.  
  
I was going to have to work on my landing though. I lost my focus and crashed down hard onto the dusty floor, causing a dust storm to erupt. I also heard Vlad groaning. I jerked my head to look around the room, upside down from where I lay flat on my back, to see where my enemy was. I rolled over and jumped to my feet, my long dark brown hair snapping around as I did. I charged toward the wounded Vlad like a maniac, whipped around him, caught him by one arm and pulled my razor up under his neck.  
  
"I wouldn't move if I were you." I said, through catching my breath. "For your information, Twin Two taught me everything I need to know."  
  
"Oh, you're good." Vlad smiled. I let Vlad go and he ran to the other side of the room. Before he could get the upper hand, I raced toward him, turned a flip and hit him square in the chest with my feet, sending him flying toward the attic door. I raced back to my backpack, pulled out a couple of ninja stars and threw them, pinning Vlad's trench coattails and sleeves to the door.  
  
"Cheat!" Vlad screamed.  
  
"Cheat? You said we could rough each other up a bit." I smiled, grabbing hold of the stars I had thrown and pulling them out. Vlad got up and brushed himself off.  
  
"The duel's off!" Vlad nervously paced the floor. I watched as Vlad walked around me. His black, lanky, agile figure walked the floor in front of me as if hovering with an unseen evil force.  
  
"Tell me your greatest fear so that I may torture you with it." he said in his calm and motionless voice.  
  
What did he think I was anyway, an idiot? I stood and stared a minute. I knew my worst fear all too well. My heart started pounding within my chest at the thought of my worst fear and coming in contact with it. Beads of sweat started forming on my face at the thought of Vlad knowing what my worst fear was and what he could do with it. I wasn't about to tell him though. I had to play it smart; I had to keep calm and cool, and think up something that I wasn't afraid of, to tell him I was afraid of it. But what? At that moment, a small mouse scampered across the floor of the attic and went behind one of the boxes, more than likely scared out of its nesting place by our rampaging. Yeah! That was it!  
  
"Alright." I sighed heavily, "I'm afraid of guinea pigs."  
  
Vlad's head turned to me.  
  
"Guinea pigs?" his eyebrows raised.  
  
"Yeah. Can't stand the sight of the little beasts. They're to me what mice are to some people."  
  
My plan had worked. Vlad's mouth turned into an evil smile as he turned to go out of the room. One of my most favorite animals is guinea pigs, but in order for my plan to work I'd have to pretend I was deathly afraid of the harmless little cute fur balls.  
  
It wasn't long before Vlad returned to the attic, carrying with him two cages. After setting the cages down, he opened them up and let loose about two dozen guinea pigs of various colors and sizes. All the little balls of fluff rolled out and scampered and waddled about while curiously looking over their new surroundings with shiny black eyes. All of them squealed and made their little noises to each other as they slowly made their way toward me. I almost forgot my plan and ran to scoop up the darling things to cuddle them, then I caught myself and started to add a little drama to my charade by screaming at the top of my lungs and scrambling to get atop one of the boxes closest to me. Vlad laughed a little, seeming to be enjoying the show. If I could just get him to leave the attic my plan would be in full force. I continued to scream and scramble on top of the box I was on, while huffing and puffing as if on the verge of losing my breath and fainting.  
  
When it looked as if Vlad was going to stay, he gave one last laugh, turned and left the room while slamming the door shut behind him. Evidentially he decided to leave me alone with my fear for a little while. After making sure Vlad was really gone, I eased down off of the box, right down in the middle of the cuddly creatures Vlad was so kind enough to leave me. I picked up one and held it close to my face and ran my cheek over it while I thought of an escape plan.  
  
I woke at hearing the sound of dishes clinking. I sleepily looked up into the face of a woman. Startled, I jolted upright and backed up a little.  
  
"It's ok, I'm not here to hurt you." said the woman. After waking up fully, I looked at her again. It was Persephone! She knelt in front of me, careful not to step on the guinea pigs that were curled up asleep on the floor, and set a tray down.  
  
"You must be starved." Perse said in a whisper. "Here, eat." She pointed at the tray. I stood there and watched her for a few minutes, not knowing whether to trust her or not. She carefully pulled out a small chunk of lettuce that she had been carrying under her arm and placed it on the floor beside the tray. Immediately all of the once sleeping guinea pigs woke up squealing and making their way toward the food they had been given. Perse smiled and reached to rub one of the squirming animals, then looked back up at me.  
  
"It's quite alright. I'm not here to hurt you. You can trust me."  
  
"Can I?" I asked, slowly reaching for the tray Perse offered me. "You're a vampire."  
  
"Don't be silly. I may be a vampire, but I'm certainly not going to feed on you. I can't, you aren't a male."  
  
"I know. That's what eases me." I took a slice of bread and placed it to my mouth. "How did you get past Vlad?"  
  
"One of my secrets." Perse got up and walked toward the attic door. "I'll be back in awhile to take the tray." She said before leaving the attic. 


	11. The Twins Find Neo

"Will you hurry up?" One shouted to Two, who was lagging behind.

"I'm trying to hurry, One, but these suitcases are awful heavy!"

One sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Here, take Angel's computer." Two handed One the computer before he ended up dropping it. One took it and waited for his slow brother to get a hand on the baggage he held. After Two finally got his luggage situated, he walked up beside One.

"Are you through?" One calmly asked, trying to fight back a chuckle.

"I think so."

"No wonder I get shot in the arm. You're the slowest brother I've seen!" One shook his head and sighed.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You're slow!" One repeated.

"Am not!"

"Are too."

Two was about to say something else, but decided not to and decided to change the subject instead.

"What do we do now that we're in Paris? How do we go about getting Angel back?"

"We've got to find Neo, then from there find the Master."

"You mean that Neo?" Two pointed across from them where Neo was standing, calmly waiting for them over by the passport area.

"Well what do you know? Looks like Neo found us this time."

"Where are the others? All I see is Neo."

"Dunno." One shrugged. "Come on, pick up your bags and let's go meet him. Maybe he knows where Master is hiding out."

Two picked up his bags and hurried to catch up to One.

"And for the last time, I am not slow!" Two said after running up to One's side.

"Then what are you doing when Trinity is blasting a hole in my arm?"

Two opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. He huffed a little and sighed. He hated being the youngest, or hated being treated like the youngest. One always got the upper hand on everything, even their brother arguments. So what if he was a little slow? No one's perfect, not even a ghost or program.

When the Twins made it to the passport area, they greeted Neo with a nod of their head. Neo did likewise.

"I thought you two would never make it here." Neo said.

"Had a little trouble." One replied. "The Merovingian kidnapped Angel."

"I know. You two were supposed to keep an eye on her!" Neo gruffly said, unfolding his arms.

"We tried to, but Master made fools of us."

"I want Angel back!" Two suddenly said. One nudged him a little to quiet him.

"Where are the others?" One asked.

"Back at the hotel." Neo answered. "Waiting for me to return with you two so we can get this started."

"Do you know where the Mero is?"

"Yes. We trailed him to a warehouse on the other side of the city." Neo stopped and looked in Two's direction, then continued. "I was there when he took Angel in with him."

"Angel?! Is she safe? What's he doing to her?" Two almost knocked One down trying to get over to Neo.

One placed his hand on Two to keep him back.

"Is it a long drive there?" One asked Neo.

"No, only a couple of minutes."

"Let's get going then. No telling what's happening as we speak."

The Twins quickly followed Neo to get their passports stamped, then followed him out of the airport and out onto the sidewalk where they waited for a taxi to come. When they arrived at the hotel, Neo stopped.

"What's wrong?" One asked.

"Someone's here." Neo whispered. "I can feel it."

The Twins looked around but found no one in sight.

"Are you sure?" One replied.

"Yes." Neo started forward. "Come on, let's go quickly."

The Twins followed Neo into the fancy entrance of the hotel and to the elevator, where Neo calmly yet quickly pressed the elevator's button. The ride up was quiet, aside from the occasional throat clearing one of them did and the shuffle of booted feet. When the elevator stopped at the floor Neo had told it to, the Twins and Neo got off.

"This way." said Neo, pushing his way past the Twins and hurrying down the hall to the room everyone was waiting in. Neo grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open. The Twins walked in and placed their suitcases on the floor where they stood. They both felt a little uneasy at first. Around them where the people they normally were enemies with. They came in anyway and stood rather awkward as close to the wall as they could.

"They finally arrived." Were Neo's words before he turned to the Twins. "I'm pretty sure you know everyone here."

The Twins nodded as they looked around the room and silently greeted everyone with a nod of their dreadlocked heads. There was Niobe and Trinity, Morpheus, Ghost, and a new member of which the Twins were a little unfamiliar with, but knew to be Ice. Ice was a middle-aged looking woman with blondish hair. She wore black clothes and had a black lacy choker around her neck.

"I'm sure you've heard of Ice, Captain of the _Gnosis_." Neo said, gesturing towards Ice. The Twins again nodded then nodded in greeting as their eyes met Ice.

"The Matrix never ceases to amaze me with the creatures it can create." Said Ice, looking the Twins over.

"Shall we get started?" Neo said, a little frustrated. Everyone immediately turned their attention to him, who motioned towards Morpheus to continue it. Morpheus stood up.

"You all know why we are here and you all know what our mission is at the moment. We are to get Angel back and stop the Merovingian from taking over this world like he tried doing before. In order for this to work as planned, we are going to have to work together and trust each other."

After Morpheus finished he turned to Niobe.

"We have pinpointed the Merovingian's location and know that he has Angel captive inside. We have to be careful. Who knows what the Merovingian will do to Angel if we make a wrong move." Niobe stopped for breath. "The Twins here are our hope of saving Angel."

The Twins stiffened at Niobe's words. Them? They were their hope?

"The Twins know the Merovingian more than we do, so they will be able to help us as they did before."

"What if we can't help?" One interrupted. "What if the Master destroys us along with all of you?"

"Then that is a chance we'll have to take." Morpheus sighed.

The Twins exchanged nervous looks with each other.

"Trinity and I will go first and make sure everything is ok. Ghost, Ice, and Neo will sneak around to other entrances to the building, surrounding all areas of escape incase the Merovingian tries anything. Morpheus will wait incase we need backup." Niobe turned to Neo.

"What about us?" Two asked.

"You will come with us." Niobe quickly answered.

"Let's go." Neo said.

"The sooner the better." Ice added.

"Everything must be done right. We'll only have one shot at this." Niobe continued as everyone rose and walked to the door.

A few minutes later found the group outside of a small warehouse. Being at night, the place was deserted of all life. Piles of boxes and other junk was scattered all over and in front of the doors.

"Watch your step, everyone. This could be dangerous." Trinity whispered to the Twins and Niobe as she cautiously walked up to the warehouse's front doors.

The Twins nervously glanced around them for any signs of someone following.

Trinity quickly turned her head to look behind her at the sudden crash that echoed through the night's silence. Niobe and One followed.

Two grinned sheepishly at meeting Trinity's eyes.

"Sorry 'bout that." He whispered as he carefully picked up the trash can he had kicked and knocked over accidentally.

"Quiet!" Trinity snapped.

Two lowered his head and continued to follow the party. One grabbed onto his brother's arm and jerked him over beside him and gave him a silent stern look. Two swallowed and remained quiet.

"This is it. I hope Ghost, Neo, and Ice are ready." Trinity whispered.

"Let's do it." Niobe said.

At Niobe's words, Trinity swiftly kicked the doors to the warehouse open and everyone bolted in, guns raised. After making sure it was clear, Trinity spoke,

"That was easy."

"A little too easy." Niobe added. "You'd think they would have had the doors locked tighter than that."

"Uh, ladies." One said.

"What is it?" Trinity looked over at One.

"The Master is inside the Matrix."

"What?" Niobe walked over to where One was standing.

"See there." One pointed over to one of the warehouse's offices where a computer showed the green Matrix code on its monitor.

"He's got Angel in the Matrix?!?" Two looked over One's shoulder.

Everyone exchanged glances.

"H-How is it possible?" One hesitated and stuttered. "Angel has no plugs to allow her to be plugged up to the Matrix."

"He must have found some way of doing it." Trinity looked around. "The place is clear. Go over there and see if you can find out what the Merovingian is up to." Trinity shoved One forward toward the office.

One carefully entered the dark room, walked over to the computer, and seated himself in the chair next to the desk. Looking at the scrolling code for a few minutes, One started to type something on the keyboard. He stopped and carefully turned toward his right at hearing a breathing sound. He got up and walked over in the direction it was coming from.

"Angel..." he whispered to himself at seeing the lifeless form of Angel sitting in a chair. One reached out and touched Angel's wrist. "She's alive." He whispered to himself again. One, then, turned and seated himself back in the chair.

"Two!" One suddenly blurted out after nearly jumping out of his skin at feeling Two's hand on his shoulder. "You nearly scared the Matrix code out of me. Never ever do that again!" One shook his head and sighed.

"I'm sorry, One. Didn't mean to scare you like that." Two whispered.

"You're fortunate I didn't pull my razor out on you." One punched a few keys on the keyboard.

"Is Angel alright?"

"Yes, she appears to be fine. She's over there." One motioned toward Angel.

"Angel?" Two hurried over to Angel's form and knelt beside it. Two ran his hand over her hair and down her face. "What's wrong with her, One?" Two's voice began to crack.

"It's impossible, but she appears to somehow be inside the Matrix program." One punched a few more keys. "The Master has the system locked and protected from anything outside. Blast!" One pushed himself away from the keyboard in frustration.

"What do we do?"

"The only thing we can do is go inside." One got up from his chair and sighed. "Where are Trinity and Niobe?"

"They're out there, guarding."

One walked to the office doorway and motioned for the two women to come inside.

"What did you find?" Trinity asked, following behind Niobe.

"It appears that the Master has somehow jacked Angel into the Matrix program."

Niobe and Trinity both looked at One in a weird and confused way.

"I know it's impossible, but he's done it. I don't know how or why, but he has. Look, there she is over there." One pointed toward Angel's body and Two. "She's alive and seems ok, but she doesn't respond to anything you do to her."

"What do you suggest?" Trinity looked at the computer monitor.

"Go inside the Matrix and see if we can free her from inside. The Master has placed protective locks on it to protect it from being tampered with outside, so there's no other way but to go in."

"There's no way for us to get in. There aren't any jacks here." said Niobe.

"Yes, there is a way." Trinity looked at Niobe then at One. "Only two of us here aren't human and they're the only two who can get inside without jacks."

Both Niobe and Trinity turned their heads toward the Twins.


	12. Persuading Vampueslome

The Twins walked into the Great Hall and stopped. The place was cold and silent without a trace of life anywhere. The Twins look around them, their dreadlocks hitting against their shoulders.

"So where is Angel?" Two whispered.

"No idea. She could be anywhere by now." One replied.

Just then, Vampueslome stepped into the room and stared at the Twins standing before him.

"Twins!" he squeaked, then turned to run out.

"Hey! Stop!" One shouted. Vampueslome stopped and slowly turned back around. "Where is Angel?"

"Who?" Vampueslome asked, puzzled.

"The girl who was brought here by the Merovingian." One shouted.

"Oh, that girl." Vampueslome said. "She's up in Vlad's lair."

"Take us to her."

"I can't!" Vampueslome slunk away.

"Why?"

"I just can't. That's all. Vlad won't let me go up there. It's off limits to anyone except himself and any vampire he wishes to speak with privately."

One grabbed hold of Vampueslome's shirt and pulled him closer.

"You will take us to her." One gruffly said before letting the vampire go.

Vampueslome stood a moment, looking over the Twins then sighed to himself.

"Alright. I'll take you to her." Vampueslome gave in. "Not because you wanted me to, but because I don't want to see anything happen to her."

Two's mouth twitched at the vampire's words.

"What did you mean by that?" he suddenly blurted out.

Vampueslome turned to Two.

"Like I said, I don't want to see anything happen to her." His mouth turned into a slight smile. "I- I kinda like her."

Two ran and grabbed Vampueslome and shook him violently.

"You stay away from her!" He shouted. "Angel is mine!"

"Yours?!" Vampueslome gasped and gagged. "She said her boyfriend is a ghost, but... you?"

"Yes, me. What's wrong with that?"

"N-nothing's wrong with that! I just didn't know it was you, is all!"

"Two! Let him go!" One ran and snatched Two's hands away from Vampueslome's shirt collar. The vampire staggered away.

Two stepped back and peered at the vampire while softly growling under his breath.

"Two, that's enough. He's not worth it." One turned to walk away. Vampueslome turned to do the same.

"Maybe he isn't, but Angel is!" Two shouted the last part before breaking into a fearsome roar. One jerked his head around just in time to see Two literally leap onto the young vampire. Both ghost and vamp fell onto the hard floor of the Great Hall and tumbled over each other. Vampueslome yelped and screamed as Two slashed at him with his razor. Vampueslome swung in defense, but Two phased each time and bore his fangs in his ghostly image. One watched on as the battle to determine who got Angel kept on. Two's turn to yelp came when Vampueslome's fangs landed in his hand. He phased to heal himself then reappeared and tackled the vamp again.

"I don't see what she sees in you, you fugitive from a rock band!" Vampueslome hissed through his fangs at Two.

"Well I can honestly say that she sees nothing in you! You Gothic freak!" Two shouted in Vampueslome's face before growling. "Angel would never fall for someone like you!"

"How do you know?"

"I just do and I don't have to tell you!" Two pushed on Vampueslome's face before the both of them tumbled over in another wrestling match.

"Ow! You kicked me!" Two shouted before the both of them rolled back over.

One's eyebrows perked at the sight.

"For one thing, Angel isn't the kind who would take to a dark and forsaken place. For another, she likes a guy who is handsome."

"I'm handsome!" Vampueslome shrieked.

"No you aren't!" Two huffed while holding the vamp down to the floor. "Disgusting, yes!" Two made a queasy expression before turning his head to the side. "And smelly bad breath, oh yes." Two gasped at Vampueslome's hard breathing. "But not handsome."

"I am too!!" Vampueslome whined. "All vamps are handsome!"

"Sorry, Angel is still mine."

Vampueslome growled and knocked Two off him.

"I suppose you call yourself handsome?"

Two puffed out his chest and grinned.

"Yes!"

Vampueslome stuck his tongue out at Two.

"You're a new vamp aren't you?" said Two.

"Yes! So what?"

"You're nothing but a child!" Two looked the vamp over. "I've been fighting a juvenile delinquent vampire!"

"Juvenile delinquent?!" Vampueslome gasped.

"You're spoilt, that's what you are!" Two started to get up from the floor where he had been sitting. "All young vamps are spoilt around here!"

Vampueslome cowered and started to slink away.

"I'm sorry." He sniveled.

"Look at him, One. Such a baby." Two almost broke out in an amused laugh.

"Yeah, reminds me of someone I know." One snickered.

"Heeeey, I resent that!" Two turned to One. "I'm better now than I used to be."

"Gotta agree with that."

Two walked up to the now defenseless vampire and taunted him.

"You aren't so tough now, are you?" Two smiled at Vampueslome. "C'mon, One, let's get him!" Two pulled his razor out and placed it to the vamp's neck.

"Two, leave him alone." One sighed. "Every minute you waste on him we could be spending to look for Angel."

Two turned to Vampueslome.

"My Angel." He whispered to the vampire. Vampueslome and Two held their gaze.

"Two, leave him alone." One again said.

Two eased away from Vampueslome and placed his razor away.

"Can I leave now?" Vampueslome sniveled.

"No, we want you to take us to Angel." One commanded.

Vampueslome stared at One.

"NOW!" One raised his voice.

"You don't have to shout. I already told you I would take you to her." Vampueslome sighed and started toward the stairs. "Come on, follow me."

The Twins followed Vampueslome up stairs, through hallways, and down corridors until he reached a dark passage leading to a huge door.

"Whatever you do, don't tell Master or Vlad it was me who did this." Vampueslome whispered to the Twins as he unlocked the door and opened it wide for the Twins to enter.


	13. The Chase

As I woke, I heard the faint creaking of a door. I opened my eyes wider and tried to make out whom or what had entered the room where I lay. At first I wasn't sure whether to grab something to defend myself with or wait to see if it was friend or foe.

"Angel!"

I heard a very familiar and comforting voice call out.

"Two?" I answered, getting to my feet and staggering forward a little bit with sleepiness.

Before I knew it, I was being embraced by a warmth I knew well. I placed my arms around the figure of Two and squeezed hard, not ever wanting to let go again.

"Are you ok?" Two said, holding me back a little and looking me over. "Vlad didn't hurt you did he?"

"I'm just fine, Two, but I'm so glad you found me. There's no telling what Vlad had planned for me." I was shaking all over by now, either by the excitement of knowing that I was finally safe or from the fear and thoughts of what Vlad would have done to me if the Twins hadn't found me. One walked up to me and hugged me as well.

"We've got to find a way to get her out of here." One told Two.

Vampueslome walked up beside all of us, took my hand and softly kissed it. I didn't know whether to cringe or smile.

"What's he doing here?" I asked Two, when Vampueslome had walked back a few feet.

"He helped us find you." Two replied softly.

"Him?!" I dared not say anymore.

"C'mon, we've got to get out of here before Vlad returns!" Vampueslome whispered in his hissy impish voice. "Vlad catches us here, we're all dead! Come, come!" He motioned for us to follow.

As we made our way away from the attic and down many stairs, halls, and corridors, I clung tightly to Two's arm. At times he placed his arm over my shoulders and pulled me close to him. I looked up where his face was, but it being so dark I could barely make out the details of his face half of the time. I smiled to myself anyway. I was never happier in my life. Vampueslome stopped occasionally to listen for any sounds of someone approaching, then not hearing anything, continued leading us on through what seemed like endless passages. I wondered if he actually knew where he was going or if he had gotten himself and us lost and wouldn't admit it.

Finally we came out into the Great Hall. I was a little shocked at first. All of that walking ended up taking us back to where everything had begun.

"You must get out of here before someone sees you! I cannot help anymore. I've done enough as it is." Vampueslome started off toward another door.

"We can't go just yet!" One said. "The Master has locks on the computer in the outside world. We need the codes to unlock them so Angel can get out of here!"

"Can't help! Can't help!" Vampueslome shook his head frantically while backing up. "The Master only knows codes."

"We know that already. Do you know where he is?" Two asked.

"No."

Vampueslome scampered off and out the door he was headed toward and disappeared.

"Great!" Two sighed.

"Well he's got to be around here somewhere. Maybe he's in the restaurant." One started for one of the doors.

"Wait!" I said, grabbing One by the coat. "Listen. Someone's coming!"

"Maybe we won't have to go looking after all." One whispered.

Soon enough, the Merovingian entered and following close behind him were Persephone, Vlad, Cain, Abel, and several other vamps. Everyone piled into the Great Hall and stopped around me and the Twins.

"They're stealing her away from me!" Vlad shouted, pointing in my direction. "They have no right to do that! I had her first and I'm not through with her!"

"Silence!" the Mero said sternly.

Vlad immediately shut up and backed up slowly.

"Now, that ees better." The Mero sighed.

The Twins and I remained silent and watched to see what the Mero's next move would be.

"Would someone tell me what the meaning of all of zis is?"

"We're taking Angel and we're leaving." One said, smugly.

"But we need you to give us the codes to unlock the computer in the other world before we can get Angel out." Two finished.

"So hand them over." One frowned.

The Mero stood silent then a faint amused smile formed on his lips.

"I don't have to give you two anything!" His eyes narrowed. "I am master around here and you work under me! You two should know that by now!"

"We don't work for you anymore, remember?" Two smiled.

"Give us the codes!" One gritted his teeth.

"I'm sorry, but the codes remain with me. That's just the way it goes. And I'm afraid that your little friend stays with me as well." The Mero motioned towards me as he spoke. "As for you two, you can come back and be my bodyguards, or you can be sent back to the Source."

Two cowered and slunk behind One and me at the mentioning of the Source.

"Don't you dare send them back!" I shouted at the Mero. "You harm one of these twins and I can tell you that I won't rest until I hunt you down!"

"Easy, Angel." One whispered to me.

"Send them back, Master!" Vlad sneered. "Then the girl will be mine."

"I'm not sending them until they choose."

"Mero, please, just leave them all alone." Persephone said, running up to her husband's side. "The girl has done nothing to you. Why not just let them have the codes and let them go? Then this whole mess will be over and we can go back to the way we were."

"My dear wife! Can you not remember? This girl, this female, she ruined my plans for world domination the last time I made it into her worthless world! With her out of the way, I can start over with new plans."

"If my world is so worthless, then why do you want so much to be in control of it?" I said, stepping forward.

"Power!"

"Ah! I should have known."

The Mero continued to stare at me. I knew that I would have to think of some way to get us out of this mess. And a plan was forming. I glanced over at Vlad, who was looking intently at me. I could almost feel his stare even if I wasn't looking towards him.

"Funny you should call yourself the Merovingian." I continued talking to the Mero. "Do you know what happened to the Merovingians?"

The Mero, by now, was starting to move uneasy.

"They became weak and were pushed aside, just like what's going to happen to you right now!" I quickly swung my backpack and hit the Mero in the face, causing him to fall backwards into his vampires.

"RUN!" One shouted before we all went scrambling in all directions.

"Come on, Angel, follow me!" Two quickly grabbed my hand and took off down one of the chateau's passages.

"Follow them! Don't let them get away! Comb every inch of this place and don't return until you have them all! And I want them alive!"

I could hear the angry shouts, orders, and curses of the Merovingian as Two and I ran farther and farther down the darkened passageway that was lit only by the light of small candles hung on the walls. We had somehow gotten separated from One in the mass confusion I had started. It was at this time that I wished I had not have done what I did. Wonder if they catch One before they caught us and sent him back to the Source?

As I ran behind Two, I looked back and saw Cain, Abel, and Vlad in close pursuit of us. At first I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me, but they weren't. I kept my eyes fixed on Abel, then before my eyes his human form slowly melted away and in place of it a running wolf's form appeared. It snarled and howled as it kept chase.

"Two! Behind us! Abel..."

Two's head turned around at my words.

"Oh great, now he can run faster! Come on, Angel, keep running as fast as you can." Two speeded up a bit and I tried speeding up too, to catch up to him, but it was no use. I was about worn out and on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. I had to stop, so I did. Two skidded to a stop and ran up to me.

"Are you ok?" He asked, putting his hand on my back.

"I..." I gasped for air. "I think so."

"I think we might have lost them." Said Two, looking past me and down the corridor. "I don't see or hear them."

"Where are we anyway?" I gasped.

"No idea. I don't think I've ever been down this way before." Two looked around. When I got my breath back, I looked around as well. It was dark with only candlelight to guide us. The walls were lined with candles, mirrors, shields and other decorative armor pieces and things. The place looked old and unused. Cobwebs and dust clung to everything, which was odd, considering the lit candles.

"If this place looks like it hasn't been used in years, then why are these candles lit?" I asked out loud.

Two made a soft sound that he didn't know.

"These floorboards don't look safe." Two said, looking down. I looked down as well. Two was right, most of the floorboards in this area were rotted and parts of them were torn up in places. I jumped over a couple to avoid falling through a gaping hole.

"Watch your step there." Two pointed to another hole.

"This place needs fixing up, big time." I mumbled while ducking to avoid a spider web.

"Got that right." Two replied.

"Do you think we're safe here?"

"I don't hear Cain and Abel and Vlad anymore, so we might be for now." Two walked around another small hole.

"Think again!" a sudden voice rang out as a dark figure fell from the ceiling in front of us. I screamed and grabbed hold of Two's arm as Vlad swung his body around and landed on the floor, dust coming up all around us. Before I knew it, Two and I were both falling downwards. Two fell first and grabbed onto my leg. The floor had collapsed under us and we were falling through the rotted boards into who knows where! I screamed and caught hold of the edge of the floor before we could go any farther, but it was no use. Two's weight dragged me down and the boards creaked, popped, and gave way under my hands and we both fell into the darkness below.

"TWO!" I shouted while falling through the floors.

There was no answer. If there was I couldn't hear it for the loud crashing the rotted boards were making as we fell through them. I knew he was there because I could feel his tight grip on my legs as we fell. Why he didn't phase and save himself, I didn't know.

It seemed like an eternity, but we finally hit bottom, or at least Two did. I landed on top of him, knocking the wind out of me and stunning me for a few minutes. I quickly rolled into a ball and covered my head while all the wood and debris rained down around us. When everything had stopped falling and after I got my sense back, I raised myself up a little, wincing at the pain I felt as I did so. Nothing was broken, thank goodness. I had only received minor cuts and bruises. I rolled off the hump I lay on and found that it was still Two. I laughed as I stood up and steadied myself, brushing off the dust.

"Some ride, huh?" I laughed. "They should put that one in theme parks." I joked.

I stopped and looked at Two.

He wasn't laughing.

He wasn't even moving.

My smile slowly dropped and I walked over to Two's lifeless body and knelt beside him. He was lying in an odd position; blood ran out of the side of his half opened mouth and down his face, his eyes were closed.

"Two?" I whispered in a low tone.

I nudged him.

He didn't move.

Getting scared, I grabbed his arm and started to shake it.

"C'mon, Two, you've gotta get up. We've gotta get out of here and go home!" Tears started to form in my eyes. I leaned over and touched my nose to his.

Nothing.

"Somebody help!!" I shouted around me, half in tears and half in fear. A bunch of boards fell in one part of the room, causing a dust storm to form. I jumped, but only for a few seconds before turning my attention back to Two.

"C'mon, get up." I pushed Two.

His head lifelessly rolled to the other side, causing the blood to drip down onto his luscious silver locks and coat.

"Please, Two, not now. Please don't give up on me. I didn't come this far to lose you. You mean more to me than anything else in the world. You know why? Because I love you! You hear that? I love you!" I pushed on Two again, trying to wake him, but it didn't work. I started to cry as I did so.

I stopped pushing on Two and looked at him through my tears. Was he even breathing? I slowly put my hand on his chest where his heart was and tried to remain quiet and felt. At first I didn't feel anything, but then out of nowhere, I suddenly felt a beating. It was faint and weak, but yes I felt it! If I could just get him to wake he could phase and heal himself.

"Two?" I whispered. "TWO!" I whispered, or rather shouted, louder. "Get up!" I punched him in the side to try and snap him back to reality. "C'mon, notice me." I gritted my teeth. Suddenly, his eyes began to flutter, and a soft moan came from within his throat, then he coughed up a great deal of blood.

"Come on, lazy, get up." I whispered while patting his cheek firmly. He slowly and weakly turned his head and looked at me through half closed eyes. A weak smile formed on his face when his eyes met mine. I sat there and gazed into his eyes, the best I could with what little light was in the room. It reminded me of when we first met that night...

"Are we at the bottom yet?" he weakly asked. I was so excited to see him talking that I burst out crying and laughing at the same time while throwing myself on him and hugging him.

"Ow! Easy!" He gasped.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again." I pulled myself back and looked at him, brushing back one of his dreadlocks that was clinging to his face. "Now, phase! Phase before something else happens."

Two raised a little, dust and dirt falling off him. He phased into his green ghostly form and hovered a few minutes before becoming solid again. Once he materialized, he stood up and adjusted his sunglasses, then helped me to my feet.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"No idea. We must have fallen through at least three rooms." Two looked up through the gaping hole us falling through made.

"Actually, it was four."

Both of us spun around and looked in the direction the voice had come from.

It was Vlad!

The dark creature came walking out from one corner of the room, his eerie figure visible in the dim light that came through the ceiling.


	14. Two's Choice

Two and I watched as Vlad came closer and loomed around us. I shuddered at the thought of what the being was planning to do.

"They're in here, Master." Vlad suddenly called out behind him. At Vlad's words, the Merovingian came walking into the room while carrying a flashlight. Behind him came Persephone, Cain, and Abel.

"Thought you would get away?" The Mero sneered.

"We gave it a shot." I replied cautiously.

"Where's One?" Two asked.

"He's safe, if that's what you want to know. At least he's safe for now."

"Traitor! All these years we've been loyal to you and you turn on us like this!" Two started toward the Mero.

"I turned against you? What about you turning against me?"

"Uh uh, you aren't blaming us. The Oracle told us all about your plans the last time."

"Ah, but that was last time. Now I have you right where I want you." The Mero snapped his fingers and Vlad came forward. "Take ze girl." He ordered.

With his orders, Vlad came walking toward me. I backed up a little, not planning on letting him get me this time. Two stepped in-between me and Vlad and snarled a little.

"You'll have to take me first." He told Vlad. "Then second, you may have to take me again. And third, yeah I say you'll have to take me again. Then we'll have to see about fourth." Two pulled out his razor and took a swing at Vlad. The vampire dodged it and grabbed hold of Two's neck and held on tightly. Two gasped for air then phased out of Vlad's grasp. Vlad looked around in amazement, trying to find Two again.

"Over here, stupid." Came Two's voice from a dark corner of the room.

"Oh forget it! It's not you I'm after anyway." Vlad hissed then turned an icy gaze at me.

I turned to run, but tripped over some boards and rubble. The next thing I knew was that Vlad had bounded on top of me and had me by the shirt.

"Good, Vlad. Bring her here." The Mero coldly commanded. Vlad picked me up and carried me over and put me down beside the Mero. The Mero placed his hand around my neck. A cold chill ran down my spine at feeling his touch.

"What do you want me to do with him?" Vlad asked, pointing to wherever Two was hiding in the shadows.

"He'll come," The Mero's grip tightened on my neck. "When he finds out that his little friend is in danger."

"I would thank you to take your hands off me." I calmly said.

The Mero only smiled.

"If you don't come out here, I will choke your friend." The Mero shouted.

"Don't listen to him, Two! It's a trick!" I shouted.

"Don't you hurt her!" Two's voice came from somewhere. "If I come out slowly, will you let her go?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I'm coming out."

"Don't do it, Two! It's a trick!" I shouted again.

"Don't worry, Angel, it'll be ok." Two said as he walked up in front of me and the Merovingian.

"Take him and bring him along." The Mero commanded Cain and Abel.

All of us walked back into the Great Hall where the vamps were waiting. The Mero pushed and forced us in. I walked silently down the line of vamps that stood on both sides, and eyed them out of the corners of my eyes. Two and I stopped, stood silently and watched. The Merovingian walked up and stopped a few feet away from us and stood silent and grim. There was a long air of silence except for the usual shuffling, breathing and occasional throat clearing. A chill started to run down my back at the whole atmosphere.

"Where is my brother?" Two softly and sternly asked, half in anger and half in frustration.

The Mero said nothing. Instead he motioned for one of the vamps nearest him to step out of the room. The vamp was gone for only a few minutes and when he returned, he had a struggling One tightly by the arms and shoved him forward. When One saw us he didn't hesitate to walk over, giving me a light squeeze on the shoulder as he took his place beside Two.

"Now that we're all here and everyone is through playing games, shall we begin?" The Mero's French voice echoed off the walls of the Great Hall.

"What is there to begin?" One huffed.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush; instead I'm going to get right to the point."

I could feel the Twins move restlessly by my side as the Mero spoke. I knew they were nervous about what the Mero would do to them. I carefully and slowly, without looking, placed my hand around Two's hand and softly squeezed it. He immediately took my hand and did the same. Afterwards he seemed calmer, as if he knew that everything was going to be alright.

"I'm going to give you two choices." The Merovingian continued.

"Enough with the talking! Just give us the blasted codes and we'll get out of here!" Two suddenly and angrily blurted out.

The Mero's eyes widened as he peered at Two.

"Come here." The Mero motioned to Two.

At first Two hesitated, but he slowly walked forward and stopped in front of the Mero. Without warning, the Mero slapped Two across the face. I started to run toward them, but One grabbed hold of my arm and kept me back.

"Don't you ever interrupt me again!" The Mero shouted at Two.

Two cowered.

"You seem awful eager to speak." The Mero evilly smiled at Two. "I think I'm going to allow you to make the choice."

"W-what choice?" Two asked.

"You'll see." The Mero walked around Two and up to me. The Merovingian grabbed me by the neck and pulled me over to him. "You love this girl, don't you?"

Two eyed the Mero and me.

"You love her, don't you?" The Mero repeated, dragging me around as he walked away from the Twins.

"What if I do?"

"How much do you love her?" the Mero grinned evilly.

"What concern is it of yours?" Two gruffly answered.

"Means nothing to me, but it just might mean something to her."

I gasped for air as the Mero tightened his grip on my neck. Much to my horror, the Mero grabbed a gun from one of his henchmen's hands and shoved the gun's muzzle to my head.

"The first choice, the girl will be free to return to her world and I won't bother it or her ever again, but you two will remain here and will be sent back to the Source for all the trouble you've caused me!"

The room was silent as the Mero paused for breath, and to gloat over the whole situation. I stood as still as I could, not daring to move.

"What's the second choice?" Two asked, hoarsely.

"The second choice,"

I heard the gun begin to click as the Mero started to squeeze the trigger.

"The girl dies right here and now, but you two will remain here and work for me as you did before, just like nothing ever happened."

The vamps, Vlad, Cain, Abel, and Persephone all exchanged silent glances with each other, barely moving as they did so. The atmosphere was tense and silent.

The Twins stood motionless.

"So what's it gonna be?" The Mero broke the silence. "The first or second choice?"

As the Merovingian continued to hold me close to him, my eyes met Two's. Even though his sunglasses hid his beautiful eyes, I knew he was looking straight at me. I could feel it. It's something I couldn't explain at the time or couldn't understand, but I almost knew what he was feeling, what he was thinking, and deep down inside I knew that everything was going to be okay in the end, no matter which choice he chose. At the same time, I wanted so bad to scream out to him to choose the second choice, to let me die and save himself, but the tight grip the Mero had on me wouldn't allow me to utter even a whisper. I loved Two too much and I didn't want him to die because of me. At that moment, I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like afterwards to go through life without him by my side.

My thoughts soon came back to the present when the Mero tighten his grip yet again and pressed the gun harder to my head. It was all I could do to breath enough to keep myself alive long enough for Two to choose.

"Well? What's it going to be, twin?" The Mero said. "I haven't got all day."

Two slowly and carefully stepped forward a little, before the Mero motioned that it was close enough.

"I," Two stopped and looked back at One.

One said nothing.

Forget a pin drop; the room was so silent I believe you could have heard a piece of dust fall on the floor.

"I choose the first choice." Two finally said, his eyes resting on me.

"So be it." The Merovingian said, taking the gun away from my head and pushing me away. "The locks on the computer in her world will be removed and she will be released. Then I will deal with the both of you."

Two lowered his head.

"You will have a few minutes to say one last good bye." The Mero motioned with his head for everyone to leave the Great Hall.

All the vamps turned and filed out the doors.

"You'd better make it good." The Mero looked at me. "It'll be the last time you'll ever see your two friends."

With that said, the Mero turned and followed Persephone out of the room, leaving the Twins and me alone with each other.

"Oh, Two." I said, wrapping my arms around him. "Why did you have to choose the first? You should have saved yourself and let me die." I pulled back and looked up into his face.

"I couldn't." Two shook his head sorrowfully. "I couldn't bear the thought of you dying."

My eyebrows perked.

"You have so much more to live for than we do. You're human." Two softly ran his hand through my hair as he spoke. "I love you, Angel, that's why I want you to live. If the only way for you to live is for us to be deleted, then that's the way I want it to be. I couldn't bear to live knowing that you died because of me."

I buried my face in Two's coat and started to cry. One walked up beside me and placed his hand on my back.

"It's going to be ok, you'll see." He said softly.

"I don't want to let you go." I said through my tears. "I let you go once and I thought I'd never see you again. Then you came back to me. I didn't come this far to lose you again." I pulled myself away from Two and looked into his eyes.

He slowly took his glasses off and opened his eyes. I gasped at the sight of his beautiful silver eyes. He leaned forward and placed his lips to mine, closing his eyes as he did so. I followed his lead and did the same. For a few minutes, both of us held each other in a tight embrace. It was something I had never felt before. When we pulled back, I was speechless. It felt good.

"I hope you don't slap me this time." Two chuckled, side smiling at me.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't worry, Two, I'm not gonna slap you." I smiled, putting my hand on his cheek and rubbing it a little.

For a little while, both of us stood and stared into each other's eyes. For some reason I couldn't shake the feeling that everything was going to be alright. I couldn't accept that this was it. There had to be more to this than one last good bye. Finally, I placed my arms around Two's neck and hugged him tight.

"You're the first one I've ever loved." I whispered in Two's ear. "You're the only one I ever will love."

Two pulled away from me and walked away.

I turned to One and smiled.

"One," I placed my arms around him and hugged him.

"I love you, Angel." He whispered in my ear. "Uh, not in the way Two loves you, but I still love you." He grinned.

I giggled then reached to ruffle his hair.

"So do I. I mean, not in the way I love Two, but I still love you."

One's smile got bigger.

Just then, the Merovingian returned.

"Alright, you've had enough time."

"But," I started.

"No buts! I gave you a few minutes to say your good byes, now it's time to get things started."

Two vamps walked in and grabbed onto Two and started to drag him out.

"TWO!!" I shouted, then began to run after him. The Mero grabbed onto my arm and jerked me back.

"Two..." I groaned while watching the vamps drag Two away. Two's eyes never left mine. Two more vamps came in and dragged One away. I groaned as they carried him off as well. When it was just the Mero and me left, the Mero let go of me.

"You ready to go home?"

I frowned at the Mero's words.

"How can you be so heartless?" I asked.

"Don't look at me, it was their choice."

"You could have been a little more fair."

"Fair?! Wasn't my choices fair enough?" The Mero said in a shocked tone.

"No! Either way Two chose, one of us would die!"

"So?"

"So you should have had a choice where we all live!" I angrily shouted.

"Enough of zis! You have wasted too much of my time as it is!"

"You just want to kill something, don't you?"

"So what if I do? It's not yours to question." The Mero huffed. "Now, are you ready to return to your world or not?"

"She's not ready to go until I say so."

Both the Merovingian and I spun around to see who the new voice was.

"Oracle!!" I shouted with a huge smile.

"And she's not going until two other individuals are with her." The Oracle said before turning toward the door she had come from. Two and One came into the Great Hall, followed by Seraph.

"Two!! One!!" I shouted as I ran and threw my arms around Two.

The Merovingian slowly stepped back.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" I said to the Oracle while hugging the Twins and crying tears of joy.

"You're welcome." The Oracle chuckled. "But Seraph is the one you should really thank. He's the one who got rid of the vamps who were dragging your friends off."

I pulled myself away from the Twins and walked up to Seraph. I nodded my head in greeting, him doing the same to me.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me." I whispered.

Seraph only smiled.

"Enough! What is going on here? These two are supposed to be on their way to the Source!" The Mero fumed aloud.

"Oh shut up!" the Oracle snapped. "You have no right to hold these here like you're doing."

"This is my chateau and I can hold them here if I wish, fortune teller!" The Mero's face suddenly turned devilish.

"Seraph,"

Seraph obeyed and stepped closer to the Oracle.

"I think the Merovingian is ready to give up the codes to unlock that computer now."

Seraph nodded then proceeded toward the Mero. The Mero eased and started backing away.

"No! You cannot do zis! No!"

The Oracle motioned for me and the Twins to come with her into another room.

"So how have you been?" the Oracle asked once we were in... the broom closet?

I looked around at all the cleaning supplies around us, then remembered that the Oracle had asked me a question.

"Oh, sorry."

"Quite alright. It's not everyday that you stand and chat in a broom closet."

The Twins snickered.

"I'm doing great. Well, as great as can be expected I guess. But I'm totally happy now that I have my twins back." I wrapped my arm around Two.

The Oracle smiled sweetly.

"You two really do love each other, don't you?"

Both Two and I nodded our heads at the same time.

Suddenly, Seraph came through the half closed door and whispered something in the Oracle's ear. She then turned to us and smiled.

"I do believe it's time for all of us to go home."


	15. Smith!

I don't remember what happened after Seraph came in and told the Oracle that he had the codes to unlock the computer. The only thing I knew next was waking up and peering into many faces above me. There was Trinity, Niobe, Neo, Ghost, Ice, and Morpheus. The Twins pushed their way in, and off in what seemed like a distance I could hear the Oracle's voice. Everyone was trying to talk at once, but I couldn't make out what they were all saying or were trying to say. Trinity and Two helped me to my feet, then the Oracle came up and started looking me over, I guess to make sure I was ok and was going to make it. I felt sick, almost like I could throw up or pass out, or both.

"Is she alright?" I heard someone ask.

"Angel, can you hear me?" Trinity asked me.

"I think she's coming to." I heard Morpheus say in his deep voice.

"Angel?" I heard the concerned voice of Two ask in my right ear.

"Come on, everyone, give her room and air." The Oracle backed everyone away from me, except for Two who continued to hold my arm to steady me.

"Where," I looked at everyone around me. "Where am I?" I slowly and weakly asked.

"You're home, Angel." The Oracle smiled.

"In the real world? Year 2004?"

"Yes."

"Thank goodness." I breathed under my breath.

"Are you going to be ok?" Two asked, still concerned.

"Yes, I think so. As soon as the dizziness goes away I should be alright."

It wasn't long before I could stand on my own and move around normally. Two stayed right by my side through it all. While the others were busy talking, Two gave me a sweet smile that comforted me a great deal. Deep down I knew it was hopeless to love Two in the way that I did because I knew we'd never be able to stay together. After this adventure was over Two would have to go back to where he belongs. That thought alone hurt me. My smile slowly dropped and I turned my head away to hide the tears that were forming in my eyes. I didn't want Two to suspect that anything was wrong.

Two and I walked toward the others to get in on the conversation and plans that they had going on. It was at this point that neither of us knew what to do. Somehow we had to get back to the US.

"Good evening."

The deep voice made all of us turn toward the door of the warehouse's office where Smith stood, grim and menacing as ever. Not only was it Smith, but he had a whole army of his clones behind him. No one said a word as we all stood and stared in Smith's direction. Coming to think of it, I don't think anyone knew what to say.

"Smith." Neo breathed.

"Mr. Anderson." Smith said while nodding his head slowly. "Morpheus."

The Twins slowly walked in front of me when Smith took a few steps forward.

"The Merovingian left me in charge of guarding Miss Merryweather for him." Smith began in his usual slow voice. "And I do believe that you are infringing on my work."

"Yeah, it's called 'rescue'." Two blurted out.

"I don't like when someone infringes on my work."

"So?" Neo stepped toward Smith. "Go ahead and see if we care."

"We don't have to do this the hard way, you know." Smith tilted his head a little. "You can hand Miss Merryweather back over to me and I will allow you to go on your way."

"Listen, stone face, you want Angel, you will have to go through me!" Two crossed his arms over his chest.

"And me." One added.

"And us." Ice said as she, Seraph, Ghost, Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and the rest walked in front of me. "You want Angel, you'll have to take us on first."

"Very well." Smith sighed.

Smith lifted his hand in the air and before we knew, dozens of Smiths came crashing through the windows and door and every other open place in the small office area. The Twins quickly snatched onto me and carried me out into the open. Behind us, Neo and the rest of the company took on all the Smiths with everything they had. Guns could be heard ringing out and echoing in the almost empty warehouse, fists could be heard thudding against faces and a couple of times several Smiths came bounding out of the room or were thrown through the windows by Neo's wild moves.

"Get Angel out of here!" Ghost shouted to the Twins before he was distracted by a Smith clone.

"What about you?" One shouted back.

"Never mind me and the rest, just get out of here while you still have a chance!" Ghost again shouted back.

"But…"

"Go, now!!"

Before Ghost could say anything else, the Twins grabbed me and we took off to find a way out of the building. A Smith clone stood guard at the main entrance so we couldn't get out there. The real Smith caught sight of us just as we turned to head toward the back of the warehouse. The Twins and I ran for our lives, with the real Smith in hot pursuit. Little did I know that Smith was right behind me, that is until I felt his hand trying to grab at my shirt. Not even thinking, I screamed and charged forward, nearly bumping into Two and knocking him forward into One. Two turned around and seeing what had almost happened, he placed his arm around me and pulled me close to him as we continued to run. Taking the first place we could find to hide, the Twins and I ducked into a small storage room at the back of the warehouse and slammed the door closed behind us.

"I have to admit that was a tad frightening." I said, trying to get my breath back once we were inside.

"Not as frightening as seeing Two in boxer shorts." One snickered.

"One!!" Two playfully slapped One's shoulder. "I don't think this is the time or the place to bring up how I look in boxer shorts!"

One only shook his head a little and smiled.

"Well for your information, you look pretty frightening in boxer shorts too, brother." Two frowned.

"I do not." One chuckled.

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet? I remember the night I woke up and saw you walking down the hall in that state. You know how Neo can stop bullets in midair? Well bullets could have stopped in midair at seeing you like that."

"When did I ever do that?" One's eyebrows perked.

"Can't remember, but you did. Nearly freaked me out. It was a good thing the Merovingian or Persephone didn't see you looking like that."

"Would you two be quiet?" I whispered, trying to keep myself from giggling. "I think Smith is coming this way."

Just then a loud pounding was heard on the door of which we were leaning against that made us all jump and grab the door handle. I threw the Twins a glance and they gave me a glance back. Both Two and One put their weight against the door to keep Smith from coming through.

"Get something to bar the door with!" One whispered to me.

"What do I get?"

"Anything! Just get something!" One pushed harder against the door. "And hurry!"

I ran off to the other side of the small storage room and quickly looked around for something. Seeing an unopened and unused oil drum, I rushed to it and tried pushing it. It proved to be too heavy to even budge. But it was the only thing in the room we could possibly use.

"Two! Come and help me here, if One can hold Smith."

Two immediately came over to my side, One taking extra care to keep Smith on the other side of the door. Two bent down and helped me push the drum across the floor, over to where the door and One was. It was tough and hard but we finally managed to scoot the drum in position where it was safe for One to let the door go. Smith tried his best to break through, but the oil drum wasn't about to budge anytime soon. The Twins and I hoped it would be enough weight to allow us to think of a way to escape before Smith finally worked his way in.

"We've got to get out of here." Two said.

"That's easy. All we have to do is phase and go through the wall."

"Not a chance. Angel can't phase!"

"Oh yeah."

"I'm not going to leave Angel behind." Two placed his arm around my shoulder.

At this time I walked off by myself to look the room over.

"Here!" I shouted to the Twins.

Both Two and One ran over to my side.

"This looks like our only hope." I said, pointing upwards to a small skylight above me.

"How do we reach it?" Two asked.

"Dunno." I whispered.

One walked over to a corner and looked around for a little while before speaking.

"We could move these boxes under it and climb up."

"Are they sturdy and heavy enough?"

"We'll soon see." One started to lift one of the crates. "It's got a good weight to it, but not too heavy a weight. We can carry them easily and they will still give us the support we need to climb on."

At that moment a noise made us all turn around and look toward the door. Smith was slowly making his way in. He had actually moved the oil drum a little and had his arm sticking through!

"Quickly, help me get these in place!" One shouted.

Two and I ran to One's side and started picking up a box at a time and positioning it under the skylight, trying to make them sturdy and able to climb on. Box by box we carried until we had a pyramid of boxes reaching up to the small opening that was our freedom.

"Who's going to go first?" Two looked at me and One.

"I will." One said, finally. Then he descended upwards.

"Careful, One." Two nervously said while watching his brother shakily climb the tower of boxes.

When One made it to the top, he carefully balanced himself on top while he reached to unlatch the skylight. Once opened, he climbed up and onto the warehouse roof then peered down at Two and me.

"Come on you two."

Smith was fast approaching. Already he had pretty much worked his way inside. Two got up onto the boxes and started upward just as One had done. Right behind him I started to follow, careful not to slip and fall. Then it happened. Smith broke through all the way. I picked up my pace and tried to shove Two forward.

"Hey, I'm going as fast as I can." He said in an irritated tone.

"Well go faster! Smith is behind us!"

Two stopped and looked down past me.

"GO!" I shouted.

Two quickly hurried up and grabbed onto the roof's edge and pulled himself up, then he bent down through the opening and handed me his hand.

"Grab on, Angel, and I'll pull you up!"

It was at this moment that the thought, 'Why does everyone want me?' went through my mind. Just as I had grabbed onto Two's hand and he was trying to pull me up to safety, Smith had grabbed onto my right leg and was trying to pull me down towards him. After a few minutes of struggle, I was finally beginning to understand how a piece of rope must feel during a game of tug-of-war. The moment of me breaking free of Smith's grip finally came when I felt his left hand suddenly grab onto my leg as well. Not hesitating to make good use of this moment, I quickly brought my legs together, bringing my left shoe down sharply on Smith's fingers. For the first time in my life I actually heard Smith utter a cry of pain as he let go of my leg.

"Way to go, Angel!" I heard the Twins shout and cheer together over my head while they pulled me up beside them. The first thing I did was hug both of them and breathe a sigh of relief.

"This is one day where I wish I had put on my thick heeled boots." I chuckled.

"You did great just the same." Two smiled.

Two and I held our gaze for a few minutes, and then I found myself leaning over and giving him a small kiss on his dark lips.


	16. True Love's Surprise

The Twins and I found our way down from the roof and walked inside the warehouse just in time to see the last of the battle between the Smith clones and Neo and the rest. The Oracle was standing in one corner with Seraph standing guard in front of her. Ghost and Niobe threw down their guns, which were obviously empty of bullets, and Ice put down the chair she held. Smith clones were scattered all over, some being piled on top of the others. The air was quiet as everyone eased and rested from the fighting.

"I guess that's over with." Trinity sighed, walking up to Neo.

"Where is Smith?" Ice asked.

"He's in that room over there." I pointed toward where Smith had cornered the Twins and me. "He cornered us in that storage room so we had to escape out the skylight."

"We guess he's still in there." Two added.

Ice, Neo, and Ghost cautiously walked over to the room and forced the door open. A few minutes after, they came back to us.

"He's not in there." Said Neo.

"He must have followed us through the skylight." One glanced at me and Two.

"He's loose in Paris?!" I gasped.

"Not for long he isn't." The Oracle's voice came from behind us. "I think it's time for all of us to return to where we belong, including Smith, before something else happens."

"You mean…" Two couldn't finish his sentence.

"Yes, Two." The Oracle looked at Two with caring eyes. "Our time here is over. Angel and her world are safe and there's no reason for us to remain here."

"I have a reason." Two protested. "I have Angel!" he placed his arm around my shoulder.

"Sorry, but we must go back."

"Why?! Why can't I stay here?!" Two's voice rose. "I love her! I'll never let her go again!"

"Two…" One placed his hand around Two's arm and tried to drag him away from me.

"Two, everything will be alright." I tried calming him down. "You'll see."

Two's face showed confusion and sadness, but I tried my best to remain calm. There were two more questions that I needed to ask before everyone left. I thought this was a good time to ask them so I turned to Ice to ask my first one.

"It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Angel." Ice replied.

"I've been curious about something. Why did you choose to come here this time?"

"I don't know, really." Ice began sadly. "I guess I wanted to see a real world again. Being down in Zion and fighting Sentinels kind of makes you sick after awhile. Makes you wish harder to see a real world as it was meant to be. I felt that I needed something different so I asked if I could come along, and here I am."

I found myself grinning after Ice had finished, and then I turned back to the Oracle.

"Oracle," I began. "Why is it that everyone is always after me?"

"What do you mean, Angel?"

"Smith always seems to be after me and the Merovingian wants me." I sighed.

"Well the Merovingian wanted you this time because he had a grudge against you. You helped in destroying his plans the last time we all saw each other. I guess he just never forgave you for that."

"He's a cold man." I breathed.

"That he is." The Oracle smiled.

"But why Smith?"

"He was hired by the Merovingian to guard you in this world so no one could come in and unplug you from the Matrix."

"It was protected by codes and wouldn't let anyone unhook me."

"Yes, that's true, but we succeeded in getting the codes from the Merovingian and unplugging you. I guess Smith wasn't aware of that and was only trying to do his job. He was going to get you back one way or another, whatever it took."

I sighed to myself after the Oracle had finished, and then turned to the Twins. Two had his head lowered in a solemn state. I slowly walked up to him and placed my hand on his face and lifted his head up to where he would be facing me. Carefully I reached and took off his sunglasses. His beautiful silver eyes blinked a few times before they focused on me. Two's dark lips curved into a loving smile.

"I'm gonna miss you." I whispered, holding back tears. "I hoped that I would never have to go through this moment again, but here we are."

Two placed his hand on my cheek.

"Someday we'll both be together forever." I looked into Two's eyes. "I can promise you that."

"That promise won't be broken will it?" Two whispered.

"I don't make promises unless I intend to keep them." I whispered back.

Two closed his eyes and leaned his head against mine.

"I love you, Angel." He softly whispered to me only.

"I love you too."

"I'm sorry to have to break this up, but we really must get going before Smith causes anymore trouble." The Oracle broke in.

Two slowly backed away from me, never once taking his eyes off me. I said a quick good bye to everyone before coming back to Two. I couldn't hold back any longer and ran to him, placing my lips to his. For a moment or two we held each other in a strong embrace, then Two finally backed away.

Before I knew it I was feeling lightheaded and losing consciousness, just like I had done before when everyone returned. It must have been the Oracle's doing, to make it easier on me and for me not to know how they all returned.

When I again woke, there was no trace of anyone in the warehouse except for myself. I got up from the floor and brushed the dirt off before making my way to the entrance where I stumbled out into the fresh morning air. I must have been out for awhile because the sun was starting to appear over the horizon. I continued to walk on until I was out in the parking lot. What was I to do now? Why had the Oracle left me here in Paris? As far as I knew I was stuck there with not much money, no way of understanding French and no passport to help me return to the states where I belonged.

I stood in the middle of the warehouse parking lot and stared toward the building. One thing was for sure, my world was free of the Merovingian's grasp once again. But I felt lost, empty, wanting something more. It wasn't a secret anymore, I was in love and everyone knew it, but I couldn't have the one I loved. Tears stung my eyes as I thought about Two's face when he had to go back. I wanted my beloved Two, I wanted to be with him again. I hated seeing him for awhile then having to say good bye over and over. I wanted him to stay…forever. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

I turned to go. Where I would go, I had no clue. I was stuck in Paris for the time being. I was stuck in a foreign country where I felt like I was the only one in a world where everyone else spoke a language I couldn't understand or speak. As I stopped to look at the sun rising in the sky, a few more tears ran down my cheek. I stood and stared out across the city while wondering if there was anything left out there for me. I knew I could never live the same now. I couldn't live knowing that there was someone I loved and wanted to be near, but couldn't have.

I prepared myself to walk on, but as I did I suddenly heard footsteps behind me. I just supposed it was someone coming to open the warehouse up. I sighed and decided to move on before whoever it was saw me and tried to ask what I was doing there. I hadn't taken but a couple of steps when I heard someone call my name. It wasn't a French voice, but an English voice. It was a voice I had heard before and knew well.

"Angel!" the voice again shouted.

My head perked and I quickly turned toward the warehouse; curious as to whom it was that could possibly know my name here in Paris. My mouth dropped open and eventually formed a huge grin. Before my eyes I saw Two running toward me! Then as I looked closer, I saw One running close behind him.

"Angel!!" Two shouted again, skidding to a stop in front of me and grabbing hold of me, nearly lifting me up and off the pavement.

"Two!!" I said, my voice muffled in Two's coat. I pulled away and grabbed Two's face in my hands and rubbed his cheeks the best I could while trying to keep my hands from shaking with excitement. "You rascal! What are you doing here?"

"The Oracle said we could stay this time!" Two grinned.

"For good?" I gasped, not believing my ears.

"Yes, for good!"

Two stopped and looked deep into my eyes.

"She said that it was done and that it would be cruel to keep us apart any longer." Two whispered.

At this moment, One skidded to a stop behind Two. I pushed my way past Two and wrapped my arms around One.

"This is great!" I said, pulling away from One.

"Oh! I think you forgot this." Two pulled a DVD out of his coat pocket and handed it to me. "The Oracle told me to give it to you."

"My DVD." I breathed. "Thank you."

"The Oracle allowed me to stay as well." One smiled. "She said that you can't have one without the other."

"You mean I can't have Two without One!" I grinned and nearly laughed.

One grinned in return.

After the greetings, the Twins and I stood in silence and watched as the sun rose in the sky. It was beautiful, and what's more I was happy inside and out. Two gently squeezed my shoulder as we stood by each other. I was glad that the Oracle understood our feelings and had allowed Two to return to me.

"Angel," Two began, breaking the long silence.

"Yeah?"

"What's that hanging around your neck?" Two pointed to the silver string that glittered in the rising sun's light.

I looked down and smiled. Lifting my hands to my neck, I unclasped and pulled off a silver necklace that had a silver cross pendant that was dotted with sky blue gems. I fastened it again and placed it in Two's hand.

"Just a little something I decided to bring along." I smiled.

Two grinned as he juggled the necklace in his hands.

"Vampueslome was awful curious about it." I chuckled. "He decided not to pull out from under my shirt though."

Both Twins laughed.

For the rest of that day, the Twins and I spent time looking over the sights of Paris and enjoyed hanging out together. That night was filled with slow dances and other spectacular surprises of which I'll never forget. But all too soon the wonderful vacation came to an end.

When we were about to leave Paris, the Twins and I let our baggage go through the X-ray while we went through the security scanners. I cleared them with no problem, but when the Twins went through…

"What on earth?" Two mumbled out loud as loud buzzing and beeping sounded around us. I quickly turned my head toward the two to see what was going on. One looked down at his and Two's coats then looked at Two.

"Our razors!" he gasped. Two's hand immediately went to his pocket where he kept his razor. Several security guards came running up to us. As I was pushed aside and not noticed, a couple of the guards grabbed the Twins' arms and tried to frisk them. Two threw his hands up in immediate surrender.

"Don't do that!" One whispered as he grabbed Two's hands and forced them down. "You want to draw more attention to us?"

"Hey! Don't touch me there!" I heard Two say angrily to one of the guards. I stood and stared at the whole situation while trying to fight back a laugh. All I could do was shake my head in an amused way.

After the guards found and pulled the razors out of the Twins' pockets, they grabbed the Twins and pulled them over to the side and away from the other tourists and people. I slowly walked over to them.

"It's a big mistake, honest!" One grinned at the guard holding him. "We forgot we even had them in our pockets. Isn't that right, Two?"

"Yes!" Two squirmed to get loose. "Hey! No touchy!" Two grumbled at the guard that dragged him along. "I don't like being touched by just anyone!"

"I need to see some ID." One of the guards sighed.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" One griped while pulling out his passport and flipping it open. Two did the same thing.

It took some heavy convincing and explaining, but the guards soon allowed the Twins to take their razors onboard the plane with them. And it pleases me to say, if this were a fairy tale, that Two and I lived happily ever after. As for One, well he soon found a girlfriend too when we returned to the states, and Two and I enjoyed double dating with him. But that's another story of which I'll save for another time!

The End


End file.
